


LIVING WITH THE ENEMY

by yeolallineed



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Bullying, College, Enemies to Lovers, Friendship, Guilt, Hate to Love, High School, Love/Hate, M/M, Mistakes, Misunderstandings, Physical Abuse, Roommates, Teen Romance, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-03-06 08:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 33,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18847309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeolallineed/pseuds/yeolallineed
Summary: It's the first day of college at the Royal School of Gifted Arts. After being bullied in his previous school for 2 years, Chanyeol has finally managed to change schools to get into RSGA and is nervous to start his first day with new friends.His only aim now is to prove his worth to his enemies and become a successful artist in the music industry.But his nervousness takes a worse turn when on the first day, he encounters the bully form his previous school, Baekhyun. And to make matters worse, they are roommates.





	1. Chapter 1

It's been a whole year since I left this place, my home, Park Chanyeol thought as he woke up on his bed, ready for the first day of college.

"Chanyeolla" his mother called out from downstairs. "Get up or you'll be late."

Chanyeol who had been awake since 4 in the morning, heard his mom, but didn't acknowledge it. It was his first day at college. Getting into Royal School of Gifted Arts (RSGA) was his first step into fulfilling his dreams. 

He had worked really had over the past 1 year to get into RSGA but he couldn't convince himself of going now that it was his first day.

Maybe he should have stayed in the US and studied there. Why did I ever come back? He thought.

"Chanyeolla are you up?" Chanyeol's mother called again.

"Yes" he shouted back. "I'll be down after I freshen up"

With a heavy heart, Chanyeol got up and took a bath. Every minute that passed, made his heart heavy. Knowing that he can't avoid the inevitable, he went downstairs.

"Look at my handsome boy" Chanyeol's mother said with a bright smile on her face.

Chanyeol smiled back, although half heartedly.

He looked around and found his father and sister sitting in front of the TV, watching the morning news.

They looked at him and smiled.

"All set for the college?" Chanyeol's father asked.

Chanyeol nodded.

His sister, Park Yoora was eyeing him intently. She got up and grabbed Chanyeol by his arm, slowly dragging him to the kitchen where their parents couldn't hear them.

"Are you okay?" she asked, very concerned. She saw how dull his face looked.

"Noona..." Chanyeol began. "I don't think I can do this" he said, teary eyed.

She didn't know what to say. It had been a year since she had seen her brother act like that. The last time she saw him cry like this, she had begged her parents to send him to US.

"Chanyeolla this is your dream. There is no pressure. If you don't want to go, we won't force you. But don't let your fears get into the way of what you want to become"

Chanyeol looked at her. He knew she was right.

"Noona, what if I am bullied again? I don't know anyone there. What if I can't survive?"

Yoora saw him cry like a baby and was reminded of how scared he used to be in high School.

She smiled slightly. "You remember you thought the same when we were sending you to the US?"

Chanyeol nodded.

"But you made some wonderful friends there. Didn't you?"

Chanyeol nodded again, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Yoora continued. "The fear is just in your mind. You are so capable Chanyeolla, and you are such a wonderful human being. The place you're going to, has people just like you. You will meet people who care about music as much as you do and you will make them your friends for life"

Chanyeol regained his confidence a little.

"Now wipe your tears" Yoora said to her little brother with a smile and Chanyeol smiled back.

She was right. Chanyeol should not worry about RSGA. 

"Are your bags packed?" their father called out from the hall.

"Yes" Chanyeol replied with much more confidence than before as he exited the kitchen.

Yoora looked at her brother and smiled. He had suffered so much for his age that all she wanted now was for him to be happy.

Yoora hadn't told their parents about Chanyeol being bullied in high school because she knew it would break their heart to find out that their child had suffered so much.

Out in the hall, Chanyeol regained his appetite and dug into the breakfast made by his mom.

Since he was going to live on campus at RSGA, he wouldn't be home so often so he ate everything he could that his mom made.

Everyone sat around the table and laughed and joked and Chanyeol's bright smile made everyone's day.


	2. Chapter 2

The drive from home to the college was pretty difficult for Chanyeol. He was trying with all his might to not be worried. He wasn't scared anymore as his sister's words had helped him. But he was still very nervous.

Upon reaching the college, Chanyeol got out of the car and took all his luggage out.

"Call me anytime if you need anything" Yoora said to her little brother.

Chanyeol nodded and smiled.

"Call me anytime even if you don't need anything, okay?" she finally said, brushing her hand through his head.

Chanyeol felt lucky to have a sister like her. He waved his family goodbye and headed inside the school.

He went in the admissions department to submit his transcripts and to get his room number.

"Good morning sir" Chanyeol announced to the admissions head with a bow. "I am Park Chanyeol and I am a transfer student from US"

"Ah yes yes" said the admissions head going through his files.

"You were in the US for 1 year and you finished your high school from there, didn't you?" he asked.

Chanyeol nodded.

"Why did you transfer to US in your final year of high school?" the admissions head asked curiously. "You had good grades as far as I can see. Were you expelled for some reason?"

Chanyeol wondered if he should tell him the truth and decided against it.

"No Sir, I had some health issues. My parents wanted me to get treated there so I continued my studies while I was getting treated as I didn't want to miss one year" Chanyeol lied. Well it wasn't a complete lie. He did have some health issued that were treated in the US.

The admissions head nodded. "Okay. Everything seems sorted. Here is your dorm room number" he said handing a piece of paper to Chanyeol that had 33 written on it.

"You will be paired with a roommate. There are strict rules that you must follow while staying here. Anyone who breaks the rules is strictly reprimanded. All clear?"

"Yes Sir" Chanyeol said. He bowed and left the office to find his dorm and his room.

\---

Upon finally reaching his dorm, he looked at his room number again. 33. He wondered where it'd be.

He went inside the dorm and saw someone putting up fliers on the dorm's announcement board. The flier read that he was looking for some members for his band.

"Excuse me" Chanyeol called out.

The boy turned towards him and smiled.

Chanyeol bowed. "Hello, I am Park Chanyeol and I am a new student here. I wanted to know where room 33 is"

The boy bowed back. "Hello, I am Suho. I am in the 3rd year and I am the president of this dorm. Room 33 did you say?"

Chanyeol nodded. 

"It's on the 3rd floor. Go down the hallway and it will be last door on the left."

"Thank you" Chanyeol said with a bow and walked towards the lift.

He seems nice, he thought. I hope everyone here is like that.

\---

Upon reaching the 3rd floor, he walked down the hallway. All the rooms on the left had odd numbers starting from 1 and the room on the opposite had even numbers, starting from 2.

He reached his room and went inside. The room was bigger than he expected. There were two large beds on opposite sides of the room, 2 desks a small area with the sofa and TV, a spacious bathroom and a small kitchen to cook in case they wanted to.

He took the bed on the right and placed all his things neatly, including all his guitars and instruments.

My roommate hasn't arrived yet, he thought. 

As soon as he was done packing, there was a knock on the door.

It made Chanyeol's heart race. He didn't know anyone yet for someone to come to his room. He wondered if his senior Suho had told other seniors and if they had come to bully him.

The person on the door knocked again. "Is anyone there?" they called out.

Chanyeol gathered all his courage and went to the door. With sweaty hand, he turned the doorknob and opened the door.

A boy slightly shorter than him stood there smiling along with another boy who was almost the same height as Chanyeol. The second one looked grumpy like he was forcefully dragged here.

"Hi, I am Kai" said the smiling boy. "And this is Sehun' he said pointing to the grumpy one. 'We're your neighbors."


	3. Chapter 3

In less than 5 minutes, Chanyeol was walking with Kai and Sehun who had asked him to join them for the school tour.

"Let's first see the cafeteria" Kai suggested. "I am hungry. What do you want Sehun?"

Sehun was now immersed in his phone, playing some game. 

"Bubble tea" he coolly replied without taking his eyes off the screen.

"I want chicken" Kai announced getting all hyper excited. "And you Chanyeol?" he asked him.

Chanyeol was still not very comfortable and he already had a heavy breakfast, but rejecting the offer might come off as insulting. "I'll have a bubble tea as well" he replied softly.

Whey they entered the cafeteria, there was only one person sitting there, eating by himself.

They three of them took their orders and headed over.

Sehun looked up from his phone. "Let's sit with him" Sehun offered, "He is eating alone", he said pointing to the boy who was eating in silence.

"Agreed" Kai added. "I don't like people eating alone"

Chanyeol realised at that moment that Kai and Sehun had great hearts. He considered himself lucky to have found such people on his first day.

"Hello" Kai said to the lonely boy as he lifted his head up from his food. "I'm Kai, this is Sehun and this is Chanyeol" he said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Leaving" he boy said with a stern face as he attempted to pick his food tray up.

Chanyeol sensed his coldness. Chanyeol was just the same when he went to study in the US. He was bullied in high school so much that he had given up on people. But he also remembered how much he wanted a friends at that moment because eating alone was always the hardest part.

"We won't bother you" Chanyeol said hurriedly. "We will just sit here and eat."

The boy considered it for a moment and sat back down, nodding.

"What is your name?" Chanyeol asked, attempting to make small talk.

The boy remained silent and continued to eat.

Kai was too immersed in his chicken to join in the conversation while Sehun continued playing his game. Although Chanyeol saw that he stole curious glances every once in a while at the boy sitting on this opposite.

He was done eating and Chanyeol thought he would leave, but to his surprise, the boy continued to sit till the other three finished with their meals.

They got up and went to place the trays where they would be collected for cleaning.

Chanyeol, Kai and Sehun bid their goodbyes to they boy and moved in the opposite direction of his. They had hardly taken a few steps when heard a voice.

They all turned around to see that the lonely boy had called them out.

In a soft yet husky voice, the boy said, "My name is Do Kyungsoo. But you can call me D.O. Thank you for eating with me" he finished with a bow.

Chanyeol smiled, Kai got so excited that he started jumping and started shaking both his hands in front of each other as if clapping but the hands never really met. Sehun on this other hand was still staring into his phone but Chanyeol saw the hint of smile that broke on his lips. 

Kai jumped and went over to D.O. "I'll call you Kyungie" he said while grabbing his arm in an embrace.

"No you won't" D.O said with a straight face.

"Yes I will" Kai said with a smile that seemed to melt D.O's heart.

"Fine" he said finally. "But only you" he said looking around for approval. Chanyeol nodded while Sehun behaved like no one around him existed.

"Let's head back to the dorms" Kai suggested, still interlocking his hands with D.O. "Which room are you in?" he asked.

"35" D.O answered coolly.

This made Kai even happier. Chanyeol has never seen someone get so excited on such trivial things. 'That's right next to us' Kai said. "Chanyeollie is 33 and I and Sehun are 34, you're 35"

D.O looked up at Kai suddenly. "You and Sehun are roommates?" he asked out of the blue.

Kai nodded in approval. There was a hint of jealously in D.O's question which they all failed to see. All but Sehun.


	4. Chapter 4

The day was pretty hectic for all four of them. They had orientation program in the morning meant for the juniors to mix up with the seniors well.

So far, there was nothing that made Chanyeol worried and he was glad that the day went by smoothly.

The senior he had met before, Suho even went out of his way to make Chanyeol comfortable.

"If you face any problems, just come to hyung, okay?" he had said with a smile and Chanyeol happily nodded.

In no time Chanyeol was happily singing with them. He refrained from dancing because he believed he was a bad dancer.

The orientation was a fun event. All the juniors were asked to showcase their talents.

Kai and Sehun performed their solo dances. They were really good.

D.O sang and Chanyeol rapped.

Everyone seemed impressed with them.

Suho's roommate Kris, who was also in 3rd year asked all four of them to have dinner with them later.

"You guys are really good. Drop by the cafeteria later. I'll introduce you to our gang" he said with an air of sass.

Another senior who was also in 3rd year seemed to have noticed their apprehension so he cut in. His name was Xiumin. Everyone who first saw Xiumin was confused why he was in college. He was short and cute, almost like a baby. People who didn't know him always thought what a middle schooler was doing here.

"We are not like other colleges." Xiumin said. "We don't make friends according to age or year. We make friends according to how well we connect to each other, musically and of course, otherwise. You four will be great addition to our group."

All four of them thanked him and bowed. Then they started to head back to their dorms when Suho called Chanyeol's name out.

"Chanyeollie'" he said out loud, asking him to come near.

"Yes hyung?" Chanyeol asked.

"Your roommate hasn't arrived yet, has he?"

Chanyeol shook his head. "Not yet"

"Okay go back to your dorms now. You're not allowed to leave your dorms after 11pm. Keep the deadline in mind, okay?"

"Yes hyung" Chanyeol said with another bow and left to follow the friends he had made on his first day.

"Where were you?" Kai asked.

"Suho hyung wanted to ask something." He said. "Where are we going?" Chanyeol asked.

"Out on a stroll" Kai said with a smirk and Sehun smiled wickedly.

Chanyeol did not have a good feeling about this. He looked at his watch. It was 10.30 already and they were not supposed to be out after 11.

"We won't be able to get back on time"

D.O was nodding frantically. "Yes we won't be back on time. Let's just get back to our dorms"

D.O was as uncomfortable about breaking rules as Chanyeol.

"Oh come on" Kai said again and held them both by their hands to sneak out.

\---

Once they were out of the campus, Chanyeol and D.O saw a different side of Kai and Sehun.

Kai was walking silently enjoying the cold breeze with both his hands in his pocket and he was absorbing every moment of the night. Sehun on the other hand was jumping and giggling and running randomly like an excited puppy.

Chanyeol and D.O were walking slowly behind them. Chanyeol thought of approaching D.O with a hard topic.

"Why were you eating alone?" Chanyeol asked.

D.O felt a little uncomfortable, but didn't answer.

"Were you bullied in school too?"

Suddenly D.O looked up at Chanyeol. He could see the fear and pain surface in Chanyeol's eyes.

After a moment of consideration, D.O finally spoke. "I was not bullied. But I was friends with a bully in my last school. When I joined the high school in my final year, I didn't know anyone. A boy approached me and we became friends. I found out later that he was a severe bully. He even made a student transfer to another school because of his abuses. I should have known something was wrong when he used to disappear for a few hours from class. I was unaware of all these things and I spent my entire year defending a person who treated others like shit because I was oblivious to his antics"

Chanyeol looked at him in surprise.

"My biggest regret is making him my friend" D.O continued. "So I decided to be alone in this school. But that plan failed severely" D.O said with a smile. It was the first time Chanyeol had seen him smile the whole day.

D.O noticed his stare and tried to change the topic. "So you transferred from the US?" he asked.

Chanyeol nodded. "I left for the US after my 2nd year in High School because I was a victim of bullying. It was very bad. I had stopped eating and sleeping. My health deteriorated severely. I was given therapy for a year" he said, almost breaking down.

D.O took Chanyeol's hand in his. "Don't worry. You're safe here" he said reassuringly. "As long as I am here, no bully will ever hurt you"

Chanyeol could sense the sincerity in his voice and smiled. "Thank you" he said.

They looked ahead but could not see Kai and Sehun. Maybe they had gone to the supermarket to get some ramen.

"What was the name of the bully that tormented you in school?" D.O asked as they took a right turn to go to the supermarket.

Suddenly, Chanyeol stopped walking. D.O looked at him and his face was as pale as a ghost. 

He was staring ahead at something with gaping eyes and fear on his face.

"Baekhyun...." Chanyeol said with a shaky voice.

D.O followed Chanyeol's gaze and found a boy standing opposite to them with bags and suitcases with him.

"Baekhyun?" D.O asked out loud.

Chanyeol was confused. Did D.O know Baekhyun?

D.O started to move towards Baekhyun who was looking at Chanyeol intently.

Chanyeol held D.O's hand to stop him from going towards him.

"Don't" he said to D.O. "He is the bully who made me transfer schools"

D.O looked from Chanyeol to Baekhyun and then again to Chanyeol.

"He is the bully I was talking about too, the one who befriended me" D.O said in complete shock.


	5. Chapter 5

Chanyeol could't feel his legs. Everything that he has suffered for two years, surfaced before him. He sank to the ground clenching his chest. It was getting harder to breathe.

D.O looked at Chanyeol and rushed to hold him. He wrapped his arms around Chanyeol and tried to calm him down.

"It's okay. He won't do anything to you. I won't let him" D.O said repeatedly to calm Chanyeol down.

Baekhyun was staring at Chanyeol in horror. He couldn't comprehend why Chanyeol was behaving this way. Baekhyun tried to come near but D.O held his hand out to him. "Don't." he said firmly. "Get the hell out of here"

"But what is the matter with him?" Baekhyun asked.

"You" D.O yelled. "You are the reason he is like this. So get the fuck out of his sight"

Baekhyun did as he was told, but before leaving, he glanced at Chanyeol. A feeling of regret and guilt swept over Baekhyun's face. I really am a monster, Baekhyun thought to himself, as he left.

D.O was still trying to calm Chanyeol down when Kai and Sehun arrived.

"What happened?" Kai asked with a face full of worry. Even Sehun looked concerned.

"I'll explain later" D.O said. "Let's just first take him back."

Sehun had the built that could support Chanyeol so he rushed to his aid. He swung his arm around his shoulders and helped him walk.

D.O and Kai followed their footsteps.

"What's the matter?" Kai asked again.

"Did you know Chanyeol was bullied in high school?"

"No I had no idea." Kai said. "But what has that got to do with now?"

D.O sighed. "The bullying was bad. Chanyeol had to quit school and go to the US to deal with the repercussions. We just came across the boy who bullied him. I think he might be Chanyeol's roommate"

Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing. Chanyeol was probably the sweetest person he'd ever met. How could someone bully him to such an extent?

"There's one more thing" D.O fessed up.

"What?" Kai asked.

"I know the bully. He and I were friends in High School"

Once D.O explained the whole situation, Kai let out a breath of relief.

"Thank god you're not a bad guy" Kai said smiling.

"Why?" D.O asked.

"Because I kind of like you" Kai said so blatantly that it made D.O blush.

\-----

Once they were sneakily back in the dorm, D.O stopped Chanyeol.

"Are you feeling better?" D.O asked.

Chanyeol nodded. "I am much better now. Thank you everyone" he said with a smile on his face.

"I should get back to my room" he continued.

"I don't think that's a good idea" D.O said. Chanyeol hadn't put the pieces together yet.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

D.O was hesitant. Chanyeol would anyway find out sooner or later, so why not sooner?

"Your roommate..." D.O said with a pause.

"What about him?"

D.O looked straight at him and held his hand. "It's Baekhyun"

D.O had expected Chanyeol to have a panic attack again but he didn't react at all. He just fell silent.

Kai shook him, but Chanyeol didn't respond. He didn't even blink.

"Slap him" Sehun said and everyone turned towards him. It was probably the first time D.O has seen Sehun speak.

"Move I'll do it" Sehun said pushing everyone else away and planting a hard slap on Chanyeol's face which woke him up immediately.

Kai and D.O looked from Sehun to Chanyeol and then back to Sehun.

"He was in shock" Sehun explained. "It had to be done" he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Good job Sehunnie" Kai said, raising a thumb.

"Chanyeol" D.O called. "Are you okay?"

"I... I don't know" Chanyeol said.

"Come with me" D.O said. "You're sleeping in my room tonight"

'What about your roommate? Will he approve?' Kai asked worried. "He can sleep in our room." he suggested and Sehun nodded in approval.

"I don't have a roommate. I exclusively asked for single accommodation" D.O said.

"And they let you?" Sehun asked in shock.

"My parents are rich, they couldn't refuse" D.O said with a hint of shame in his words.

"Come on" D.O took Chanyeol by his hands and took him into his room to spend the night.

\----

It was a sleepless night for the occupants of all three rooms.

Kai and Sehun were worried about Chanyeol.

D.O was hating the fact that the person he loathed, the person he wanted to escape the most, was in the room next to him.

Chanyeol tossed on the bed, unable to sleep because the nightmare he had tried so hard to forget, was coming alive again.

Baekhyun on the other hand, was unable to take Chanyeol's scared picture out of his mind. Before this, everyone he bullied, avoided him at all cost and made it a point to never appear before him. It was the first time he saw what his actions could to to others. 

But then he remembered. He had never bullied anyone as much as he bullied Chanyeol. He had never been intrigued and frustrated by anyone as much as he was with Chanyeol. Baekhyun usually gave up on his victims after bullying them once or twice. But he had bullied Chanyeol for two straight years; ever since the first day he saw him talking to the school's most popular boy during lunch. 

He was jealous. He had never been jealous of anyone before. But that sight of Chanyeol having lunch with Luhan who was a year senior to them, made him angry. And the only way he knew to channel his anger was through bullying. So that's what he did.

But he had never thought that it would affect Chanyeol so much.

"I am sorry Chanyeol" Baekhyun said, lying on his bed as he wiped a silent tear that had fallen from his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure about this?" a worried D.O asked Chanyeol as he stood up.

"Yes. I have to do it one day" he replied.

"But it doesn't have to be today. You can stay here longer if you want"

"Thanks for the offer but I can't. I spent the entire night gathering courage to face him. I have worked very hard to be here. I won't let one asshole ruin my dreams."

D.O still looked worried and Chanyeol sensed that.

"We are one room apart. If I think I can't do it, I'll shout your name out"

D.O gave a reassuring smile. "All right" he said finally.

Chanyeol left to go into his room as he saw Kai come out of theirs.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To MY room" Chanyeol said, stressing on his possession as he entered his room while Kai went to D.O's.

"Good morning sunshine" Kai said with a smile when he looked at D.O but he held a finger over his mouth, indicating Kai to stop speaking. He was trying to listen into Chanyeol's conversation.

Inside his room, Chanyeol sat on his bed and took his shoes and socks off. He heard the shower running and thought Baekhyun must be taking a bath.

He went to his wardrobe and the moment he picked out his clothes for the class, Bakehyun came out of the shower and stopped at the door on seeing Chanyeol.

After a moment's hesitation, he found his words. "You're back?" Baekhyun said politely, but Chanyeol didn't respond. He took his clothes and towel and proceeded to take a bath.

In the shower, Chanyeol felt proud of himself for not being affected of scared of Baekhyun. He still was, but he wouldn't show it to him anymore.

When Chanyeol came out of the shower, he found Bakehyun sitting on his bed like he was waiting for Chanyeol.

"Do you want something to eat?" Baekhyun asked, hoping to talk to him, but Chanyeol was as cold as before. He pretended that Baekhyun didn't exist.

I deserve this, I deserve this and much more. Nothing you do would ever compensate for what I did to you, Baekhyun thought to himself.

"Listen..." he tried to speak again. "I just want to.." before the words could escape Baekhyun's mouth, Chanyeol held his hand out, in an attempt to stop him from speaking. 

"I don't want to listen to what you have to say. It's unfortunate that you and I are roommates. It'd be better if you pretend I don't exist because that's what I am going to pretend towards you" Chanyeol said as he exited the room and shut the door behind him with a bang.

Outside the room, he rubbed his chest, under which his heart was beating frantically.

"Good job" he said to himself. "Good job" he repeated.

'Indeed' came out three voices in unison. He looked up and saw Sehun peeping from his door and Kai and D.O peeping from his room with smiles plastered on all their faces.

Chanyeol couldn't help but blurt out a bright smile that shut his eyes and brought all his teeth out. 

\---

The four of them headed to the cafeteria to have breakfast before their vocal training started.

Seated across a huge table, made one by joining three tables, were Suho, Kris, Xiumin and a few other people they didn't know. However, Chanyeol recognised one familiar face from his middle school that made him happy.

Suho waved his hands to indicate the four of them to join for breakfast.

All four boys bowed to their seniors and introduced themselves, followed by the seniors introducing each of themselves.

"I am Tao" said a boy with a sleek face. "I am in 2nd year"

"I am Luhan, I am also in 2nd year" said the boy next to Tao.

"I am Chen, said a boy with a mischievous smile. "I am in 3rd year"

"And I am Lay" the boy next to Chen spoke in a soft manner with a smile that dug a beautiful crater on his cheeks. "I am 2nd year"

After the formal introductions, all the four 1st year students sat with them.

"So what happened last night?" Chen asked blatantly.

Suho's eyes shot up. "What happened?"

Chanyeol, D.O, Sehun and Kai all looked at each other with an accusatory look of who leaked the info.

"Would someone explain?" Suho demanded with heavy breaths like his blood pressure would soar.

Chanyeol gathered up the courage and explained everything to the president.

Suho hid his head in his hands and pulled his hair in frustration.

"First day... on the first day itself you went out and broke the rules. Why even have rules then when you want to act like that?"

Kris tried to calm Suho down.

"Myeonie" he said, rubbing his hands on Suho's back. "It's okay, chill. No one found out anyway"

At this Sehun nodded in agreement. "Yes that's the most important thing. No one found out"

Suho gave Sehun a death stare, to which Sehun responded with a smile.

"I will deal with you guys later" Suho said. "But first tell me about this bully. Luhan has been filling us up"

Chanyeol didn't respond to that and everyone at the table understood that he is uncomfortable.

"Do you want me to change your room?" Suho offered.

"No" Chanyeol said softly. "I will be fine hyung."

Suho nodded. "In case you want to change, come to me first" he said, to which Chanyeol smiled.

The whole group went back to discussing their schedules for the day and kept chatting happily.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the cafeteria changed and silence prevailed. They all turned their heads to see what grabbed everyone's attention.

It was Byun Baekhyun in his skin tight jeans and black shirt. The eyeliner that he wore was razorsharp to a point of perfection. He walked around with an air of arrogance like he owned the place and everyone there.

'Who is he?' a clueless Lay asked everyone.

'He is the one who bullied Chanyeol' Luhan said in a low voice.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been over a month since college started. Everyone had pretty much settled down in their places. Friendships were made and bands were formed. Suho was still looking for members for his band though.

By now, almost everyone at college had found out about Baekhyun's past life as a bully. Word spread like wildfire and people talked wherever he went.

One would feel sorry for him but considering what he had done, everyone thought it was well deserved. Even Baekhyun. 

In the last one month, Chanyeol had regained his confidence and laughed like he used to before. People loved his company and the fact that he always made everyone laugh.

In the last month, everyone at college became aware of the fact that if you saw Chanyeol laughing, it was better for your health to stay as far away from him as possible because he had a habit of hitting everything and anything around him, even people. And when he didn't have anything to hit, he would lie down laughing and hit the floor repeatedly. 

What they didn't know was that it had been so long since he had laughed so wholeheartedly, that he didn't want to hold back any longer. 

Soon after their second month at college had started, Suho came to the cafeteria where everyone was sitting, with a few papers in his hand.

"What are those?" Chen asked curiously.

Suho handed each of them a paper and everyone stared down at it.

"Inter-school Carnival Fiesta" the paper read, which was to be held one month from then.

"Yay party" Luhan cheered.

"Not just a party" Suho announced.

"What do you mean?"Lay asked.

"It's also a music and dance competition"

Everyone around the table suddenly got excited.

"Who wants to participate?" Suho asked looking around and everyone's heads turned towards the four silent first year students sitting at their table.

"Us?" Kai yelled, although a little excited.

Xiumin nodded. "It's compulsory for the first year students to participate"

"To get experience... you know" Kris added and everyone agreed in unison.

"But... But" Chanyeol said, feeling a little under-confident. 

"What's the matter?" Lay asked Chanyeol.

"I don't think I can do it. My vocals aren't that strong yet"

Suho interrupted. "There is nothing to worry about. There's also rapping contest along with singing and dancing"

This lifted Chanyeol spirits up. He knew he would need more practice in vocals, but his rapping and guitar skills was what he banked upon.

"Okay cool" he said with a bright smile. 

"That's the happy virus we all now" Luhan said in a more excited manner than he should have.

Sehun looked at him coldly, feeling a little uneasy.

"All four of you go and sign up for the contest after lunch" Suho commanded and they all said yes.

\---

"Let's go" D.O said to the other three. "We have to sign up"

Kai and Sehun stood for up.

"Aren't you coming?" Kai asked Chanyeol.

He showed Kai the paper in his hand that he had been immersed in since the past half hour.

"I have to submit this assignment before the next class or I'll fail. You guys go ahead and I'll join you after I am done"

"Okay" Kai said and the three of them left for signing while Chanyeol headed to the class.

He opened the door hoping to find the teacher there but instead there was a small note by the teacher that said 'Mr. Park leave your assignment here. I will collect it after lunch'.

Chanyeol did as he was told and turned around to leave. Just as he was about to reach the door, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. He turned his head to find Baekhyun sitting at the last seat of the class, staring out of the window.

Didn't he have lunch? Chanyeol thought. What are you thinking Park Chanyeol? Get a grip. You are not supposed to be bothered by him, he told himself. But he still was bothered. He made up his mind several times on whether he should approach Baekhyun or should just leave. He then decided to leave.

Out in the hall, as he was walking towards the signing room, he couldn't help but think about how much that scene of Baekhyun in the classroom reminded him of something. It reminded it of himself during the two horrible years in High School.

A sense of guilt swept across Chanyeol and he ran back towards the class. He opened the door but the seat that was occupied by Baekhyun a few minutes ago, was completely empty now.


	8. Chapter 8

The day passed pretty quickly. A few times Chanyeol's mind wandered to the likes of Baekhyun, but every time he made himself busy with work.

When Chanyeol reached his room in his dorm, it was empty. He wondered where Baekhyun was. Chanyeol freshened up and decided to retire to his bed, trying to sleep early so that he could go on a jog the next morning.

The moment he turned the lights on, Chanyeol heard the door open. It was Baekhyun.

The past one month they had pretended that the other didn't exist. Although on occasions Chanyeol had caught Baekhyun staring at him, he didn't feel uncomfortable in his presence anymore.

Baekhyun entered and stood there for a moment looking at Chanyeol. He went closer and sat on the floor by his bed.

Running his fingers lightly over Chanyeol's hair, he planted a peck on his forehead. 

"Good night" he said softly, thinking that Chanyeol was asleep.

Chanyeol, who was only pretending to sleep to avoid Baekhyun was left utterly confused. He kept his eyes tightly shut, not wanting to give off any indications that he was awake. What did just happen? Was it really Baekhyun? The same Baekhyun who had always been mean and violent towards him? He didn't know what to do.

Under the sheets, Chanyeol could feel his heart racing. Suddenly the place became warmer. He thought he was having a panic attack again, but this time, it was different. He wasn't scared or terrified of Baekhyun or what he did. He didn't know what the feeling was called. The only thing he knew was that the feeling he felt just now, wasn't bad like it was in high School.

\---

The next morning Chanyeol got up early and left before Baekhyun woke up. He went jogging early in the morning even though he spent the entire night tossing and turning with the unfamiliar feeling that Baekhyun had left him with.

After about an hour or so, he returned back to his dorm and found that Baekhyun was in the shower. He took his clothes and ran to D.O's room. He knocked twice.

D.O half opened the door and slid his head out. "Why are you here?" a grumpy D.O asked.

"To shower" Chanyeol said.

"Don't you have a shower in your room?"

"It's occupied and I am getting late. Please D.O let me use the shower once. Just once. Please let me come in"

"Let him in Kyungie" came a familiar voice from inside the room and D.O's face turned red.

He opened the door to reveal a half awake Kai sitting on D.O's bed, smiling at the both of them.

Chanyeol gaped and pointed his finger at Kai. Then the finger turned towards D.O. And then he clenched his mouth with both his hands.

D.O face was buried deep in his hands while Kai looked at Chanyeol cheerfully.

"You two..." Chanyeol said, still unable to come to terms with it all. "Since when?" he asked.

"Umm..." Kai said trying to remember. "Two weeks perhaps?"

"18 days" D.O cut it. "It's been 18 days since we've become official"

Chanyeol smiled like a baby at this.

"So you're sleeping together now?" he asked mockingly.

"Yes" said Kai the exact moment D.O said "No"

"I mean I sleep over" Kai said, trying not to embarrass his boyfriend anymore. "We haven't done it yet if that's what you were asking"

"I was not" Chanyeol said laughing like a hysterical person looking at D.O who looked like he would die of embarrassment. 

"You guys continue" Chanyeol said teasingly. "I just need to shower"

"We weren't doing anything" D.O yelled after Chanyeol as he entered the shower.

"Yes continue not doing anything" Chanyeol said, peeking from the door of the shower. D.O picked up his shoe and hurled it at him but Chanyeol dodged.

Kai looked exceptionally pleased with everything happening in the room.


	9. Chapter 9

The day of the event was finally here. All the students of RSGA had gone to Millennial Arts and Music Academy (MAMA) where the event was being hosted. 

Chanyeol was so busy preparing for the day that he had completely forgotten about the events of that night. He had meticulously though, started avoiding any eye contacts with Baekhyun whatsoever so that he wouldn't feel awkward. 

Chanyeol felt nervous but also very excited. He looked at D.O who was standing next to Kai as the latter was busy on his phone. D.O was staring at Kai with an affection he had never seen before. Almost like he was appreciating every detail of Kai and thanking him for existing.

Kai turned to look at him. "What? Is there something on my face?" he asked, running his fingers through his face.

"Yes" D.O said and he tiptoed within the next moment to plant a kiss on Kai's lips. 

"This" he said with his eyes close and Kai's face broke out into a broad grin.

"Mr. Do Kyungsoo, you're spoiling me" he said, smiling with the lips that still had D.O's lingering feelings on them.

D.O blushed, unable to believe that he actually did that.

"Are you two lovebirds ready?" Chanyeol said interrupting.

D.O nodded and Kai looked around.

"Where's Sehun?" he asked.

Chanyeol shrugged.

"I'll go look for him" D.O offered. Sehun was to perform a dance with Kai and they would have to go up any moment now.

D.O ran out of the auditorium into the unfamiliar territories of the school.

He called out Sehun's name a couple of times but didn't get a response. D.O wasn't even sure if he was going the right way. 

All the students were seated at the auditorium and thus the entire school was empty.

Time was running out and he didn't want Kai's performance to suffer. D.O searched through halls and lecture rooms to be able to find Sehun. Searching through, D.O opened the door to the chemistry lab scanned through and closed the door when he couldn't find anyone. But out in the hall he realised that there indeed was someone in the corner of the room.

He opened the door again and called out Sehun's name. The hidden figure sitting in the corner lifted his head up. It was Baekhyun. D.O knew he should just leave. Finding Sehun now was more important. But the way Baekhyun looked, vulnerable and needy, he couldn't help but approach him.

"Are you okay?" D.O asked and Baekhyun tried to hide his tears.

"I'm fine" Baekhyun reply was short and stern.

"Are you sure?" D.O asked again.

"Just leave me alone. Okay?"

D.O should've done just that, left him alone. But instead he went closer to Baekhyun and sat down beside him.

"I'm here if you need me" D.O said to which he heard no reply.

D.O didn't want to be there with him but over the past three months he had seen how lonely and miserable Baekhyun had been. He ate lunch alone in a cafeteria full of people. No one wanted him to be in their group. Everyone avoided talking to him and socializing with him. He wasn't invited to parties and was treated by all like he didn't exist.

He knew Baekhyun's past and what he had done, and yet he felt sorry for him. So despite his brain telling him to leave Baekhyun alone, he decided to accompany him because his heart told so.

"Aren't you participating?" D.O asked casually.

"What is the point?" Baekhyun retorted. 

"What do you mean?"

"You're all participating because you have people to cheer and support. Who should I participate for?"

"Yourself" D.O said. "I have heard you sing Baekhyun. I know what you're capable of. Isn't singing why you enrolled in this school?"

He was right. Above all, Baekhyun did enroll because of his singing.

"Are your parents here?" Baekhyun asked D.O.

D.O nodded. "You know they don't miss any of my performances" D.O said smiling. 

This felt nice; sitting here with D.O. It felt like old time. It made Baekhyun smile.

"What about you parents?" D.O asked and realised that he shouldn't have. Baekhyun's relationship with his parents was very sour.

His question brought Baekhyun back to reality and his face became stone like.

"I think you should go now"

"What?" D.O asked, confused. "Why? I am sorry I mentioned your parents. It wasn't intentional"

"I don't need your sympathy. Get out and leave me alone" Baekhyun said, almost yelling.

D.O was so agitated that he would have hit Baekhyun on his face, but he noted a hint of sadness in his words. He wondered if the question about his parents was what riled him up.

Without saying another word, D.O got up and left.

He walked passed the door without looking behind and thus failing to see that Chanyeol had been standing there all this time.

After D.O disappeared down the hallway, Chanyeol turned towards the door and looked at Baekhyun through the glass panel.

A few minutes earlier when he had seen D.O sitting with Baekhyun, he didn't bother about it much. But then he saw Baekhyun smile slightly. That smile made Chanyeol feel a pang in his chest. 

He thought it was anger. He had felt it once before too during the beginning of high school, a few days after Baekhyun had transferred in.


	10. Chapter 10

 

***3 Years Ago***

 

_It had been a few months since Baekhyun started high school. He didn't know anyone but was quick to make friends. The first thing Baekhyun noticed when he joined the High School was Chanyeol. He was among the most popular boys around._

_That angelic handsome face was so tempting that even straight boys would dote over him. Baekhyun looked forward to going to school everyday because he would get to see Chanyeol there. He hated being at home with his parents so Chanyeol and school were the only two things that kept him going. Everything about Chanyeol make Baekhyun happy. But he looked like a distant dream. Especially when he had a girlfriend whom he'd being seeing for a few months now._

_Baekhyun had noticed Chanyeol smile at him a couple of times. He initially thought it to be a mistake, but later accepted it to be a friendly gesture between two friends._

_Despite that, Baekhyun held on to every last hope he had of being together with Chanyeol._

_It was around the mid of the school year when Baekhyun suddenly skipped school. No one knew what happened to him and the teachers refused to talk._

_It had been a 4 days now since Baekhyun had been absent and Chanyeol became more worried as the days passed._

_On the 5th day of his absence, Chanyeol stole his address from the principle's office and decided to visit him after school._

_Following the address, he reached a house that looked like a palace. He rang the bell and a maid dressed in black and white opened the door._

_"Is this Baekhyun's house?" Chanyeol asked and the maid nodded._

_"Who are you?" she asked in return._

_"I am his classmate. He has been absent for 5 days so I came to check"_

_"The family has gone on a holiday and will return soon. Please don't come back"_

_Chanyeol noticed a very awkward nervousness in her voice but discarded it and returned to his home._

_Baekhyun continued being absent for a few more days before returning a week later. Everyone around him noticed some faded bruised on his face and hands._

_"What happened?"everyone asked him in concern._

_"Nothing. I just got into an accident when I was holidaying" he lied. Everyone believed him except Chanyeol. In the class, Baekhyun and his eyes met for a few seconds. He knew Chanyeol was concerned just by looking at him. He also knew that it was nothing more than sympathy for a fellow classmate._

_Suddenly Chanyeol's girlfriend stood up. "Guys I have an announcement to make" she said cheerfully._

_Everyone turned their attention towards her. "My parents and Chanyeol's parents have finally decided to get us married once we are in 3rd year of our High School" she said jumping like a frenzied person._

_Everyone around them congratulated them. A classmate dragged Chanyeol by his hand and placed him next to his girlfriends and they clapped and danced around them._

_In the commotion, Chanyeol failed to notice that Baekhyun had left the class almost in tears._

_\---_

_Although Baekhyun had no expectation from Chanyeol, he didn't know why he felt this hurt upon hearing this news. Chanyeol was never his to begin with._

_Baekhyun sat by the stairs near the cafeteria, all by himself when student from a senior class approached him._

_"Hi I'm Kim Taehyun" he said introducing himself and Baekhyun smiled._

_"Want to hook up?" he asked blatantly which left Baekhyun shocked. He hadn't come out to anyone in the school, so how did his senior know that he's gay?_

_"What? No!"Baekhyun flat out rejected._

_"Come on it'll be fun. No strings attached" he offered again but all Baekhyun could think about was Chanyeol. So he refused immediately._

_Taehyun didn't pester much after that and left him alone._

_A few moments later, he heard the door to the staircase open on the floor below and it was Chanyeol's girlfriend along with some other girl._

_"You're not serious are you?" Chanyeol's girlfriend yelled._

_"It's just what everyone is saying" the other girl said._

_"My boyfriend loves me a lot." These words from her mouth hurt Baekhyun a little._

_"Why are you mad at me? It's the other who called your boyfriend gay, okay?"_

_"Chanyeol is not gay. In fact' she said with a pause, "In fact he has even told me that he hate gays and is disgusted by them"_

_Baekhyun's world shattered in a moment. He would have been okay with Chanyeol not returning his feeling, but the fact that he was disgusted by someone like Baekhyun, broke every part of him._

_Unable to think straight, he rushed to the cafeteria and scanned every corner. Finally he found who he was looking for. Baekhyun approached him and grabbed him by his hand._

_"Taehyun" Baekhyun said. "Let's go"_


	11. Chapter 11

***3 YEARS AGO CONTD***

 

_Baekhyun grabbed Taehyun by the hand and dragged him out of the cafeteria. No one noticed them leave._

_Out by the field, Baekhyun pushed Taehyun against the bleachers and pinned both his hands above his head._

_"Like it rough, don't you?" Taehyun said with a wicked smile._

_"You have no idea" Baekhyun responded and he pressed his lips against the parting of Taehyun's. Baekhyun bit into Taehyun's lower lip, forcing a slight cut. The taste of blood on Baekhyun tongue made him wilder._

_"Do you want it?" Baekhyun asked Taehyun to which he nodded desperately._

_"Beg" Baekhyun commanded. His domination was so natural that Taehyun couldn't help but surrender._

_"I said BEG" Baekhyun yelled again and Taehyun went weak on his knees._

_"Fuck me Baekhyun, like I'm yours to use"_

_Baekhyun gave out a wicked smile and pulled his pants down. He turned Taehyun around to make him face the wall and he followed Baekhyun, pulling his pants off as well._

_Without any mercy, Baekhyun pushed his hardness into Taehyun and the latter screamed with pain and pleasure._

_"You like it?" Baekhyun asked and he moved his pelvis in circles, pleasuring Taehyun further._

_"Oh fuck yes" the latter screamed. "Harder baby, fuck me harder" Taehyun pleaded._

_Baekhyun penetrated his hardness even deeper and accelerated his speed. He pulled both of Taehyun's hands behind him and held them together, forcing his upper back to arch down. With his right hand, Baekhyun was gripping both of Taehyun's wrists and with his left hand, he was pulling Taehyun's hair while fucking him like an animal._

_Baekhyun was wilder than what Taehyun had thought. The sex was painful but the pleasure was so high that it compensated for everything else._

_His thrusts became faster and violent. Taehyun gave in with every inch of his body._

_"Turn around" Baekhyun commanded and Taehyun followed like he owned him._

_"I want to see your face when I cum" Baekhyun said. Taehyun kissed him deeper than he had before._

_Baekhyun pulled Taehyun up and little and with a slight jerk, he penetrated him again. The feeling was immeasurable for Taehyun. This position made Baekhyun hit all his right spots. Kissing Taehyun while holding him tight across his body, Baekhyun thrusted himself inside of him a couple more time before releasing his load inside of him._

_After he was done, the both of them stood there for a moment, breathing heavily on each other's necks._

_Just before he was about to zip up, Chanyeol arrived there, in search of Baekhyun, hoping to talk to him. What he saw, made him feel angry and hurt at the same time. And the feeling became evident on his face._

_"Chanyeol" Baekhyun said but stopped the moment he saw Chanyeol's face. His girlfriend was right, he was disgusted._

_Chanyeol turned around and rushed to the cafeteria to gulp down some cold water to calm himself down. What was this feeling that he felt? It was like his heart was wrapped in barbed wire. He looked like he would murder someone._

_Luhan, his senior and mentor saw him in distress and approached him._

_"Chanyeolla, are you okay?" he said, placing a hand on his shoulder._

_Chanyeol didn't respond. More like he didn't know how to respond. He just looked at Luhan with rage in his eyes. Luhan knew trying to calm him down would take some time._

_"First, sit down" Luhan ordered and Chanyeol obeyed._

_Then he bought a lunch tray and took to over to where Chanyeol was sitting. He picked up some food on the spoon and placed his hand in front of Chanyeol, asking him to open his mouth._

_Chanyeol refused so Luhan squeezed his cheeks with his left hand. It made Chanyeol open his mouth and Luhan pushed the spoon full of food inside._

_Luhan laughed and could only hear his own voice. He looked around to see that everyone had stopped eating and were looking at Luhan, the most popular boy at school, feeding Chanyeol._

_Everyone saw what transcribed between them, including Baekhyun._

_Since then, everyday Baekhyun saw him with Luhan or any person whom he would show even the slightest interest to, Baekhyun bullied and harassed Chanyeol. He punished Chanyeol for his own mistakes as well as his own guilt._

_He hated Chanyeol for everything, but more than that, he hated himself for what he was doing to him._


	12. Chapter 12

***PRESENT DAY***

 

When Chanyeol saw Baekhyun sitting there with D.O and smiling, he was reminded of the time when he had seen Baekhyun under the bleachers with Taehyun.

The bitter taste of jealousy was not something to his liking. The feeling that he had curbed without even giving them a chance, was starting to surface again. But how could his heart beat the way it was beating for someone like Baekhyun; the boy who had made his life a living hell for 2 years? How could he forget all that he did? All the tortures that drove Chanyeol mad?

"Get a hold of yourself" he said, placing his hand over his chest. "Focus on your performance for now". He looked at Baekhyun again and lightly placed his palm on the glass panel.

"Best of luck" he whispered silently ho Baekhyun.

Baekhyun looked up at the door, as if he had heard Chanyeol's whisper. But by the time he glanced up, the latter had already left.

When Chanyeol reached the auditorium, Kai and Sehun's performance was over. It was D.O turn now. Chanyeol was glad that he didn't miss at least one of their performances.

D.O on stage, Chanyeol noticed, was a different man altogether. The song he'd chosen for his performance was Boyfriend by Justin Bieber.

The moment he opened with his first line, the deep husk in his voice affected everyone in the crowd. The girls started screaming and the boys started cheering.

After a few seconds, the entire crowd joined to sing with him. It was without a doubt the most celebrated performances of the event.

D.O's performance ended and the host announced the next name, Park Chanyeol.

Cheering, smiling and waving at the crowd, Chanyeol reached the middle of the stage. He could see that all his friends were cheering for him.

Suho and Kris were holding a giant poster that had 'Kick some ass Giant Panda' written on it.

Luhan held a big board with the words 'May The Rap God Be With You' and then there was Chen with a board that just read 'YODA'.

Chanyeol smiled at all the support he was getting.

He took the center of the stage and strummed on his electric guitar. Everyone was silent now, intently listening to what was coming up.

Chanyeol started playing the chords on his guitar. Everyone sat in shock as the chord he played were no where related to rap. In fact, he started playing the opening music to his favorite song.

In less than a minute, he began singing...

**_I follow the Moskva_ **   
**_Down to Gorky Park..._ **

The crowd had gone mad at this point. It was completely unexpected of Chanyeol to showcase his vocals at the event, especially with a song such as Wind of Change.

He continued to sing with his eyes closed and the crowd swayed with him and his soft rhythms.

Still holding the crowd's full attention and making them sway gently to his tune, Chanyeol reached the end.

....

_**Take me to the magic of the moment** _   
_**On a glory night** _   
_**Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)** _   
_**With you and me (with you and me)** _   
_**Take me to the magic of the moment** _

_**On a glory night** _   
_**Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)** _   
_**In the wind of change (in the wind of change) .** _

When he was done, Chanyeol opened his eyes and saw that everyone was screaming his name at the top of their voices. He saw Kai, Sehun and D.O jumping up and down with happiness and it made Chanyeol grin. He got off the stage and decided to leave with his friends.

"Let's go" he said, "I'm hungry". Everyone realised that they were too. The performance had made them too nervous that they didn't have any appetite before.

Kai, D.O and Sehun walked ahead as Chanyeol packed his guitar to follow them. The moment he was about to walk out the auditorium, the host announced the next performer- Baekhyun.

Chanyeol's feet stopped without his conscious decision. He turned back and faced the stage.

Before Baekhyun could settle himself, D.O came back and tapped Chanyeol on his shoulders.

"Why are you still here?" D.O asked. "Let's go"

But Chanyeol didn't answer. D.O followed his gaze to see that he was staring at Baekhyun, who in turn was looking straight into Chanyeol's eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

The way Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol was not usual. More than anything, there was a sense of guilt that was prevalent. The both of them didn't take their eyes off of each other.

D.O who stood there observing the two of them, decided that it's best to leave them alone for now. He turned back and left Chanyeol there.

Baekhyun adjusted his mic.

"This song..." he said, "is my first attempt towards asking for forgiveness."

Chanyeol knew who he was talking to.

"Even if you can't, I will still beg for it every day, and for the rest of my life" Baekhyun said before the music started playing in the background.

It started with soft strumming of guitar and everyone in the audience started tapping their feet and banging their heads.

And then Baekhyun began...

 _**When you were here before** _  
_**Couldn't look you in the eye** _  
_**You're just like an angel** _  
_**Your skin makes me cry** _

It had been almost 3 months since Baekhyun joined the school and no one had ever heard him sing. He had practiced alone since everyone at school avoided him.

But the moment he started singing in the auditorium, a warmth spread through the crowd. His voice was so pure that it could heal souls.

He continued...

 _**You float like a feather** _  
_**In a beautiful world** _  
_**And I wish I was special** _  
_**You're so fuckin' special** _

_**But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.** _  
_**What the hell am I doing here?** _

_**I don't belong here** _  
_**I don't care if it hurts** _  
_**I want to have control** _  
_**I want a perfect body** _  
_**I want a perfect soul** _  
_**I want you to notice** _  
_**When I'm not around** _

_**You're so fuckin' special** _  
_**I wish I was special** _

_**But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.** _  
_**What the hell am I doing here?** _  
_**I don't belong here.** _

By the time the song ended, people in the crowd were conflicted. Some of them were so touched by the song that they were crying. Others clapped and cheered at the wonderful performance. Some started shouting 'Once More'.

But none of them understood the song like Chanyeol did. It directly spoke to him. All throughout the performance, Baekhyun kept his eyes on the one he was singing for.

But what Chanyeol had endured wouldn't wash away with just one song, The road to redemption for Baekhyun was not only long, but also very difficult.

Chanyeol continued to stare at Baekhyun for a few more seconds before turning his back on him and leaving through the gates of the auditorium.

Chanyeol wasn't sure of many things that had happened today. But one thing that he was absolutely sure of, was that Wind of Change was no longer his favorite song. It was Creep.

\---

After he had eaten to his heart's content, Chanyeol along with his three friends decided to return to the auditorium for award announcement.

By the time they reached, they had already announced the 1st place and the 2nd place for the Rapping Contest. They didn't recognize any of them.

Next was the Dance Contest and the first place was a tie between Kai and Sehun and a boy called Lee Tae Min who studied in MAMA.

All the students from RSGA went berserk on Kai and Sehun's win. They had never won the dance competition before.

Then came the Singing Contest announcement. Chanyeol had no hopes. Had he participated in Rap, he would've expected something, but his Vocals were still not as good as other.

The host announced the runner up first and they all screamed at hearing D.O's name. The whole group of Suho was so proud that each of the members got on the stage to get D.O's awards. Upon getting up, they realised that they had left D.O below the stage, like it was them that had won and not D.O and he was looking at everyone furiously.

Kai immediately went for some disaster management and grabbed D.O by his hand before planting a kiss on his cheeks and congratulating him. That lifted D.O's mood up immediately and he happily went to receive the award.

They all exited the stage before the host was to announce the first place.

No one expected this but the first place went to Baekhyun. The other school booed him because they didn't win. But what was more surprising was the no one from RSGA cheered for him when he won. Baekhyun went up the stage and it was dead silence from the crowd.

He silently took the awards and quietly exited the auditorium before it could be any more awkward.

Chanyeol, standing near the door through which he exited, saw a silent tear fall from Baekhyun eyes as he left.


	14. Chapter 14

Back at RSGA, everyone gathered around the fields to celebrate the wins. Everyone was proud of the fact that they had managed to win 3 out of the four awards at the event.

There was a bonfire, barbecue, music, dancing and everyone's lifted spirits that made the night electrifying. Everyone was enjoying themselves, except Chanyeol. He sat in a corner, lost in his own thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked him.

D.O accompanied them. "What's wrong with him?" he asked.

Kai shrugged. "Did something happen at MAMA?"

D.O wondered if he should tell Kai what he had seen. He was his boyfriend after all. But most importantly, they were all friends.

Looking at Chanyeol D.O contemplated his choices. "Nothing" he said in a dull tone that was enough for Kai to know that D.O was lying.

"Kyungie... what is it?" Kai asked, full of concern. "I am worried now".

Chanyeol sensed the concern in his voice. "Just tell him" he turned to D.O and said. "I don't have the energy to"

"At the event" D.O began, "after we left, Chanyeol stayed behind for the final performance"

"And?" Kai asked.

"It was Baekhyun's performance"

"It was what?" Kai was looking at him with gaped expressions.

"He stayed behind to see Baekhyun's performance. It turns out that his song was an apology to Chanyeol"

"Hah" Kai threw his hands in the air. "How convenient to apologize now after being treated like shit by everyone here. It's all a gimmick to gain sympathy" he said with rage in his voice.

"That's not it" D.O cut in.

"What is it then?"

"I think..." D.O looked at Chanyeol who was half listening, half lost. "I think he meant it"

"You're too naive Kyungie" Kai said.

D.O raised an eyebrow and looked at him in surprise. "I am not. You'd have thought the same if you were there"

"Well then thank god I was not because I won't let my friend be used and abused by that vile fox"

"You're not the only one who cares about Chanyeol" D.O said irritated, which Kai sensed.

"Are you getting mad at me now?" Kai said with anger.

"I am not getting mad at you. I am just saying that maybe Baekhyun has changed"

"People don't change"

"It's useless trying to make you understand things" D.O said before he could realise what he had blurted.

Kai scoffed. "Is it now?" he said laughing in anger. "Why don't you go and make Baekhyun understand then? I am sure he would love to understand you Do Kyungsoo"

D.O realised he had screwed up pretty bad when Kai called his full name out. Before he could say something, Kai flipped around and left him standing there with his mouth open.

"Congratulations" Chanyeol said to D.O, dully.

"Oh don't you start with me now"

"This is giving me a headache" Chanyeol said getting up. "I am going back to my room."

D.O registered his request and nodded. "Okay. Call me if you need me"

"Okay" Chanyeol said. "Reconcile with Kai now. It was your fault"

D.O was left speechless. Why was everyone after him today?

He turned around to find Kai and saw him talking to a senior from 2nd year. He was standing closer to him than he should. A burning rage of jealousy swept over him. 

"I am going on a walk" D.O announced to himself and left, trying to calm down, glancing at Kai in a flash, gritting his teeth and then clenching his fist on his way out of the field. 

\---

Chanyeol arrived at his room and the lights were still on. Wasn't Baekhyun out in the field?

He entered to find him lying on the bed, covers over his face. Chanyeol thought he must have dozed off so he quietly shut the door behind him. He took his shoes off and took out his change of clothes from the wardrobe. As silently as he could, he approached the shower to take a quick bath.

When he came out, Baekyun was not on his bed. He looked around and couldn't find him anywhere.

Did he go out to the field? Chanyeol wondered. Thinking that me must have, Chanyeol resorted to his bed and quickly fell asleep.

He suddenly woke up from his sleep at around 3 in the morning. With half open eyes, he reached for the bottle on the bedside table, but it was too far away and it was too dark for him to see anything. He turned on the table lamp and picked up the bottle. After quenching his thirst, he placed the bottle back and went back to sleep.

He suddenly woke up the next moment and turned all the lights on, while staring at Baekhyun's bed. It was empty.


	15. Chapter 15

Chanyeol immediately ran out on the field to see if Baekhyun was still there. Upon reaching, the only thing he found were traces of the amount of fun everyone had there. There was no Baekhyun. He ran to every corner of the campus but couldn't locate him anywhere.

He didn't know what to do. So he ran back into his dorm and knocked on D.O's door a couple of time before an enraged D.O opened the door with a brick in his hand, ready to throw it on someone's face.

Chanyeol stared at the brick for a moment and was confused.

"Where did you get that?" he said, completely forgetting the situation at hand.

"The road outside the campus" D.O said in a sleepy yet irritated voice. "Is that why you're here? To ask me where I got this?"

Chanyeol shook his head as if waking up from a dream. "No. Baekhyun's missing" he said.

"He's what?"

"Missing. Gone. Disappeared. Poof. Evanesco"

D.O was still coming to terms with it all. "He must have gone somewhere"

"I searched everywhere"

"Did you check your washroom?"

"What?" Chanyeol asked. Was D.O serious?

"When you were running across the school searching for Baekhyun, did you think that he might have been in the washroom and that's why his bed was empty?"

Chanyeol thought about it. He had not checked his washroom and shower and had immediately run out. 

D.O waved his hand at Chanyeol, asking him to go check.

Chanyeol immediately ran to his room and returned back to D.O. "There's no one there"

"That's what I thought" D.O replied.

"What? Then why did you ask me to check my room if you knew he wouldn't be there?"

"Because I wanted to be sure" D.O said, hiding the fact that he wished Baekhyn was in hin room so that he could go back to sleep.

Chanyeol raised one of his eyebrows and nodded. It made sense to him now. 

"Let's go. We need to search for him"

D.O agreed and immediately left with Chanyeol. Since he had already searched through the entire college campus, D.O suggested that they search off campus as well.

They sneaked out the gate, careful enough not to get caught by the guards.

Once out on the road, D.O suggested that they look for him separately and meet outside the gate in one hour. Chanyeol agreed and they went in opposite directions.

They searched through the entire neighborhood but couldn't find him. When they met an hour later, they still had no leads on where Baekhyun was.

"I think it's best to go back. Let's search once everyone is up. We'll be able to cover more grounds." D.O suggested and Chanyeol agreed.

Back in the dorm, Chanyeol couldn't help but worry. He left D.O outside his room and turned towards his.

"Chanyeol" D.O called his name out.

"Yea?"

"Can I ask something?"

Chanyeol nodded.

"Why do you care so much about Baekhyun? Considering what he did to you?"

Chanyeol went silent for a moment.

He looked at D.O with a slight smile. "Because if I don't care, I am no different from him."

From then on, D.O looked at Chanyeol in a different light. The respect he had for Chanyeol, increased multiple folds. D.O knew then that Chanyeol was the kind of friend he never would want to lose.

Chanyeol bid his goodbye and entered his room. The moment he stepped in, his blood boiled with rage.

"Yaaah" he yelled loud enough for the entire college to wake up.

D.O rushed into his room.

"What happened?"

Chanyeol breathed a heavy sigh and turned to look at D.O. Then he pointed his finger behind him. D.O scooted over and saw Baekhyun was sleeping on his bed, covered under the comforter from head to toe.

D.O sighed in relief. "Let him sleep" he said. "You can talk later"

Chanyeol who was still burning with fury agreed with him. After D.O left, he stood there for a while staring at the outline of Baekhyun. 

You're safe, he thought with a sigh of relief and returned to his bed to sleep for a few hours.

\---

When Chanyeol woke up, he found Baekhyun's bed empty but the shower was running. 

In less than a minute, Baekhyun came out and was shocked to see Chanyeol up earlier than usual.

The both of them didn't say anything to each other. Chanyeol got up and neared Baekhyun, who was attempting to hide his face.

Chanyeol placed his hand below Baekhyun's chin and lifted it up.

He carefully stared at the face that had bruises all over them. Chanyeol was filled with rage.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, clenching his fist.

"No one. I had gone home for the night and got into an accident" Baekhyun said, closing his eyes in shame as he couldn't face Chanyeol.

"What accident?" Chanyeol asked, still unmoved and still very close to Baekhyun's body.

"It's nothing really. I keep getting into accidents. I got into one when we were in High School too. Remember?"

Chanyeol backed away from Baekhyun. Of course he remembered. The day Baekhyun came back after his accident was the day Chanyeol's heart had broken into pieces watching Baekhyun fuck Taehyun.

People don't change... He's just trying to gain sympathy, Kai's words from last night rang in his years.

Chanyeol scoffed. 'Of course I remember' he said with loath in his voice. 'You deserve it' Chanyeol finished bitterly before exiting the room.

Baekhyun stood there in shock. He really did deserve this, he thought as he broke into tears.


	16. Chapter 16

The next few days dragged longer than expected, especially for Chanyeol. The day Chanyeol spoke to Baekhyun in the morning, was the the last time he had seen him. The same day, Baekhyun took a leave of absence for an indefinite about of time and no one knew or bothered about where he was. No one except Chanyeol.

It had been almost 3 weeks since that day.

Chanyeol was done with his practice and decided to retire to his dorm for the day. He had been feeling exceptionally low since that day. The guilt of being so harsh to Baekhyun was eating him from the inside.

He opened the door to his room and found Baekhyun sitting on his bed, reading a magazine. Seeing him suddenly made him feel a strange settlement at the bottom of his heart. But he knew it was a happy feeling.

"You're back!" Chanyeol said nonchalantly.

Baekhyun put the book aside and smiled at him. "Yes I am"

Chanyeol's heart fluttered. He hadn't seen that smile since years. He tried not to make his feelings obvious.

"Your bruises have healed."

Baekhyun nodded, a little uncomfortable with the mention of the topic.

"Were you at home all this time?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

"No" Baekhyun said in a low voice. 

"Where were you then?"

"Just around" Baekhyun said without any conviction. The casual way of his speech made Chanyeol angry. Why was he not answering properly?

Chanyeol knew there was no use trying to talk to him. He wanted to apologize, but it did not seem like the right time. Chanyeol knew he wouldn't be able to get any sleep now and Baekhyun's presence would only make him angrier. So without another word, he left the way he had just come in and went to D.O's room where he and Kai were sitting with Kai's arms wrapped around D.O as they were flipping through a book.

D.O immediately broke away from Kai. "Can you knock?"

"Oh cut it out I already know what you guys do. I live in the next room and the walls are thin" Chanyeol blurted.

Kai smiled with a crinkle while D.O was buried deep in embarrassment, again.

"Why are you here?" D.O asked, trying to change the topic.

Chanyeol was suddenly brought back into his gloomy reality.

"Baekhyun is back" he said in a low tone.

D.O looked at him in surprise while Kai cringed.

"Why?" Kai asked with a tone of disgust.

"Shh" D.O said placing his finger over his mouth and Kai immediately stopped, making a sad face.

"Why do you look so tensed?" D.O asked Chanyeol.

Chanyeol didn't know what to say. Just as he parted his lips to speak, D.O's door flung open and Sehun entered.

"Does anyone want bubble tea?" he asked loudly.

"Not now Sehun" all three of them shouted at him.

Sehun was taken aback. "What's with the yelling? You could have easily said no" he said, pretending to be hurt.

Then he looked at each of their faces and realised that it was an interesting conversation so he quietly shut the door and sat on the empty bed right across from Kai.

All three of them looked at him blankly.

"Don't mind me" Sehun said flatly. "Continue with your conversation"

D.O turned to look at Chanyeol. "You were saying?"

Chanyeol explained the entire episode that took place in the morning that Baekhyun went AWOL.

After he was done, D.O seemed lost in thoughts.

"He said he went home?" D.O asked.

Chanyeol nodded.

"And he came back with bruises?"

Chanyeol nodded again.

"This is bad" D.O said to which Chanyeol became worried.

Sehun and Kai were listening to the two of them with full interest.

"What's bad?" Chanyeol asked.

"You shouldn't have said what you did at the end"

"I know" Chanyeol said with his head hanging high. "But what's bad?"

"I don't know if I should tell you this"

"You should" butted in Sehun, closing his eyes and nodding.

"You definitely should" joined Kai.

D.O sank in his chair, still wondering if it was his right place to tell Chanyeol that.

"What is it?" Chanyeol asked desperately. "Spill it out".

Weighing his words properly, D.O finally decided to tell Chanyeol the truth.

"Those bruises..." D.O said softly, "aren't from any accident"

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked.

"If he really went home that night, then those bruises..." D.O finally said, "Are from his step dad."


	17. Chapter 17

***1 YEAR AGO***

 

It had not been long since D.O had befriended Baekhyun in their final year of High School. By then D.O had understood that the other students feared Baekhyun a little. Although he never understood why.

Baekhyun had always been nice to him, someone who was seeking a company.

One day, Baekhyun came to class covered with injury marks all over his face, arms and neck. No one dares ask him what had happened. D.O being an only friend, confronted him.

"What happened to you?" D.O asked with a look of concern in his voice.

"Nothing, I just got into a little accident"

"What kind of accident leaves such marks?" D.O asked.

"It's nothing. Can you just drop it? I am hungry. Let's go grab lunch"

They ate in peace and then separated to go to their respective classes.

When D.O entered his class, his batch-mates were in deep conversation.

"He came to school looking like this?" one said.

"He really has guts" another one said.

"Did you see the scar on his neck? It's so freaky"

D.O understood they were talking about Baekhyun.

"Don't you remember? He came looking the same last year too?"

The others nodded. "Last year he came to school covered in bruises almost every month of the year"

It seemed odd to D.O. It wasn't possible that Baekhyun got into accidents so frequently.

He ran out of the class to look for Baekhyun, to try and ask him the truth. The hallways were empty as the class had started and everyone was already in class. D.O ran towards Baekhyun's class when he heard his voice coming from the staircase near the cafeteria.

"You shouldn't have come to school like this" a woman was almost yelling at him.

"Then where should I have gone mom?"

The woman was Baekhyun's mom? D.O wondered.

"Anywhere as long as it's not here. What will happen when the rumors start flying? It is going to affect your father" his mom said.

"Step-father you mean?"

"Shut your mouth Baekhyunnie"

"Or what? You'll ask your husband to shut it for you?" he said in a raised voice.

His mother planted a slap on his face which busted the lip that was already bruised.

Blood gushed out from the wound and Baekhyun simply wiped it off.

"Don't worry." Baekhyun said. "I have managed to keep this a secret for 5 years. I can do it for longer"

His mother looked at him in disgust. "Why didn't you just die with your father?" she said finally with hate in her voice.

"So that your husband would have someone to hit instead of hitting you"

His mother gave him a despicable look. "How dare you?" she said again.

"It's just a matter of a few months now. You and your husband have put up with me for 5 years, a few more months wont matter. Once I leave for college, I won't be coming back home" Baekhyun said and exited through the cafeteria. Leaving his mom near the stairs.

Once Baekhyun was gone, she took her phone out and dialed a number.

"Hello?" she said.

"Yes. There is nothing to worry about. No one will find out" she said after a few seconds and hung up, walking down the stairs to exit the school premises.

What D.O had seen that day, existed in his memory alone. He never told Baekhyun what he had seen and heard.

\---

Before the final year came to end end, Baekhyun's history of bullying came open before him. D.O who had all this while sympathized with Baekhyun and supported him, was disgusted with the fact that Baekhyun was capable of doing such atrocious acts.

Even though he felt sorry for him, nothing in this world could justify his acts.

"You deserve what you get in life" was the final thing he said to Baekhyun, before severing all ties with him.


	18. Chapter 18

Chanyeol couldn't believe what he was hearing from D.O.

"I was too immature and reckless with my decision" D.O said. "I realise that now. Seeing him go though all this everyday, made me realise that it was his defense mechanism to protect himself from all his pain"

"But he still shouldn't have bullied Chanyeol to such an extent" Kai interrupted. 'That's unforgivable'

"That's for Chanyeol to decide" D.O said. "Not you or me" and Kai understood. 

Chanyeol looked at D.O. "Is that why you said I shouldn't have spoken to him like that at the end? Because you also said the same thing about him deserving what he got?"

D.O nodded silently. "But there is one thing which I still haven't been able to figure out"

"What? What?" Sehun jumped with excitement.

"You're still here?" D.O said blatantly looking at Sehun.

Sehun scoffed. "Come to the point. What haven't you figured out?"

D.O turned to Chanyeol. "When he first started bullying you, how often was it?"

Chanyeol didn't want to remember but he knew he must. "When I was in my first year of High School, the frequency was quite less. Probably thrice of four times"

"And what about in second year?"

"Almost once every month"

D.O remembered what he had heard from the students in his class. 

'Don't you remember? He came looking the same last year too?'

The others nodded. 'Last year he came to school covered in bruises almost every month of the year'

"When he bullied you, did he used to be covered in bruises?" D.O asked.

Chanyeol shook his head. "No, but he would disappear for a few days after bullying me and when he returned, he had similar marks. It happened almost every month."

D.O was finally starting to put pieces of the puzzle together.

"Chanyeol, I think the time when he bullied you, he consciously got abused by his father"

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked.

"If my theory is right and what you're saying is accurate, it meant that the day when he abused you, he voluntarily used to go home to get abused as a punishment for what he did to you"

"That doesn't make sense" Kai interrupted.

"Yes it does" Sehun cut him short. "It's psychologically proven that when you do something wrong, your sense of guilt sometimes overpowers your reason to receive punishment for your wrong doings. This is why people get addicted to drugs and other stuff, because they would rather just forget about it all than feel guilty about it"

Everyone looked at Sehun in shock.

"How do you know so much?" Kai asked.

"I read" Sehun said in a very obvious way.

D.O brought his attention back to Chanyeol.

"There's one more thing I need to ask." he said to the latter.

"What?"

"You are aware that there were other victims of Baekhyun's bullying, right?"

Chanyeol nodded. "Yes, almost everyone at school had been bullied at least once by Baekhyun"

"Exactly. When I found of about Baekhyun's habits, one thing that was common was the frequency of his bullying. He bullied students once, or twice or maybe thrice."

"So? What's your point?" Chanyeol asked.

"My point is" D.O said with a curious look on his face, staring straight at Chanyeol, "When he didn't bully anyone more than a couple of times, why did he continue bullying you for two straight years?"

The question left everyone wondering.

D.O was right. Why was Chanyeol the only one to be tortured by Baekhyun for two straight years?

"We're definitely missing some important part of information"

"What information?" Kai asked curiously.

"It wouldn't be missing if we had it Kai" Sehun said, being a little proud of himself.

"Until we have that info, we can't figure out why Chanyeol was bullied so frequently" D.O said.

"We're also missing another important information" Chanyeol added. 

"What?" all three of them asked together.

"First, what made him want to start bullying me and second, what made him want to stop?"

"That's right. We need to figure that out as well." D.O said.

"Great" Sehun added. "We're playing detectives now". He sounded excited.

Kai who got hyper on everything, was jumping on the bed. D.O looked at him and smiled, wondering how did he ever fall for someone such as Kai.


	19. Chapter 19

As the days passed, Chanyeol's attitude towards Baekhyun softened. He didn't fully comprehend the situation, but his heart was melting each day.

Every since D.O had told him of Baekhyun's step father, he started to look at Baekhyun differently. He didn't understand it, but he was now willing to.

The mid terms were approaching and Chanyeol was completely focused on his classes and practices. He didn't have much time to think about anything else. He hardly spent any time in his room. He would either be found in the studio, composing music or would be found with Kai, Sehun and D.O in the practice room. The only time he went back to his dorm was when he had to sleep. And Baekhyun would already have been sleeping. When he used to wake up in the morning, he found Baekhyun's bed empty.

One morning, Chanyeol woke up earlier than his usual time and saw Baekhyun exit though the door. He checked the time and it was 5 am.

Where is he going so early in the morning? Chanyeol thought. The class wouldn't start before 9.

Ever since that night when Baekhyun had gone missing, Chanyeol had grown overly worried about him. He decided to follow Baekhyun.

Chanyeol trailed after him and saw him exit the dorm. He saw Baekhyun turn towards the Main Building which had all the lecture rooms, studios and practice rooms.

He wondered why Baekhyun was going there so early in the morning. The image of Baekhyun and Taehyun flashed before his eyes.

Was he going to meet someone there? Chanyeol wondered. With a pang of unexpected jealously rising inside of him, he decided to follow Baekhyun further.

When Chanyeol entered the building, he couldn't see Baekhyun anymore. Chanyeol looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to go further, he heard indistinct music. Melodious chords of piano hit his ears.

Chanyeol followed the music and landed outside the practice room. There he found Baekhyun sitting behind the piano near the window, and playing with his eyes shut.

Chanyeol didn't know Baekhyun could play the piano. That too so well. In a matter of seconds, he got lost in the image. The filtered sunlight through the window was lightly hitting Baekhyun's face. He looked so serene and peaceful in that moment that Chanyeol wanted to capture this image in his mind forever.

Just when he thought it couldn't get any better, Baekhyun started singing along the melodious tune of the piano.

_**Strumming my pain with his fingers** _   
_**Singing my life with his** _

Chanyeol suddenly looked shocked. He remembers this song very well.

Baekhyun continued...

_**Killing me softly with his song** _   
_**Killing me softly with his song** _   
_**Telling my whole life with his words** _   
_**Killing me softly with his song** _

Chanyeol couldn't believe it. Baekhyun remembered it. Back in High School, immediately after Baekhyun had joined, there was a small talent showcase at school in which Chanyeol had participated. And this was the song he Sang that day. No one except Chanyeol knew that the song he sang, was for Baekhyun.

He continued listening to Baekhyun with moist eyes.

**_I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd_ **   
**_I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud_ **   
**_I prayed that he would finish, but he just kept right on_ **   
**_Strumming my pain with his fingers_ **   
**_Singing my life with his words_ **   
**_Killing me softly with his song_ **   
**_Killing me softly with his song_ **   
**_Telling my whole life with his words_ **   
**_Killing me softly_ **

 

Once Baekhyun finished, he sat there looking out of the window, lost in his world and Chanyeol continued to look at Baekhyun longingly. This was the first time in a long time when he had wanted to sit beside Baekhyun and make music together.

Chanyeol had sensed the sadness in Baekhyun's voice. He wondered why he was sad. He wondered what he could to take this feeling away from him and to see him smile again. Chanyeol realised that Baekhyun came to the practice room so early was so he could practice for the mid terms. No one wanted to pair up with him and it must have been embarrassing to practice alone in front of everyone.

He was so desperate to go to Baekhyun and practice with him, but he realised that Baekhyun would be more embarrassed if he was found out like this. So Chanyeol decided it would be better to leave him alone to practice.

That's the least Chanyeol could do for Baekhyun now.


	20. Chapter 20

The midterms were finally over and none of the first year students could believe that they had spent almost half a year in this heavenly abode. It was now time for a month long break and almost everyone was going home. 

The dorm president Suho announced the night before the break started that any student who would like to stay at campus during the holiday for practice, was welcome to stay.

"Are you staying back too hyung?" Chanyeol asked Suho.

"Yes. This is my final year and auditions will start after 3 months. I have to give my best" Suho replied.

"Are the auditions only for the third year students?" Sehun asked.

"No they are open to all" Kris replied with a smile.

"How is your band coming along?" Chen asked Suho at which Suho frowned.

"Now my only hope is to be selected in the audition to get into a band" Suho replied bitterly.

"So who all are staying?" Suho's entire group raised their hands. So did Chanyeol, D.O, Kai and Sehun.

The meeting was dispersed and everyone was asked to return to their respective rooms as it was getting late.

Chanyeol bid his farewell to everyone and returned to his room. Upon entering, he saw that Baekhyun's side of the room was neatly arranged and looked emptier than before.

Did he leave without saying goodbye? Chanyeol thought, but then remembered that they are not in such good terms to greet each other and send each others off. 

Chanyeol wondered if Baekhyun had gone home and he hoped that he would be safe.

He thought of going to sleep when he heard a knock on the door. Chanyeol opened it to find D.O there. He had a long face, seemed like he was angry on something, most probably Kai.

"What's up?" Chanyeol asked to which D.O sighed.

"We're all drinking in my room and you're coming along" he said flatly.

"What?" Chanyeol yelled in a shock. "What if we get caught"

"If you keep shouting like this then we definitely will get caught. Half of the dorm is already empty. No one will find out."

Chanyeol nodded reluctantly. 

"Just so you know, everything I just said are Kai's words. He knew you wouldn't come if he called you so he made me mug all these lines up to come and fetch you"

"Wow, you really are a man in love, aren't you?" Chanyeol teased which made D.O as red a rose.

Chanyeol couldn't help but laugh at D.O.

"Shut up. I still have that brick in my room"

Chanyeol immediately closed his mouth. "Sorry"

He followed D.O into his room where he found Kai sipping beer and Sehun lying on Luhan's lap as Luhan fed him cheetos.

Chanyeol saw them both and cocked his head. "Now you two are dating?" he asked flat out to which Luhan nodded with a reply.

He looked at D.O and Kai. "And you two knew?" he asked in an accusatory tone. Kai nodded with a bright smile while D.O chose to not reply at all.

"Why am I always the last one to know?" Chanyeol complained.

"Maybe if you stop thinking about Baekhyun all the time you'll notice that we exist too" Sehun blurted. Kai threw a pillow a Sehun to stop him from talking but it was blocked by Luhan.

"If you hit my Hunnie one more time..." Luhan said almost threateningly...

"Then you'll have to deal with me" D.O cut in with scary satanic eyes that made Luhan a little afraid.

"Ahem..." Luhan said. "Tell your boyfriend to stop hitting my boyfriend."

"Tell your boyfriend to stop acting stupid then" D.O replied sharply.

Sehun laughed while still lying down. "This is fun" he said looking at Kai who was also laughing in agreement with Sehun.

"Oh god", Chanyeol said. "Is this what they call hell?" he continued with a cringe on his face.

\---

The drinking and carelessness lasted the entire night. Everyone passed out on the floor next to each other.

A noise broke Chanyeol's sleep. He opened his eyes to check the time and it was 7 am. Everyone was dead asleep so he decided to go to the washroom and wash his face. Now that he was awake, he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore.

After washing his face, he went to his room to find a cure for the hangover he was suffering from. His head was aching severely.

He opened the door and stumbled inside. A half dead Chanyeol suddenly became fully awake. Baekhyun was standing right in front of him.


	21. Chapter 21

Chanyeol was baffled to see Baekhyun. He thought Baekhyun had left already. Chanyeol proceeded to move to his left then to his right and then to his left.

"I'm here to clean myself" he suddenly found himself justifying. WHAT? he thought. What was he saying?

"Right!" said Baekhyun immediately and ran his hand through the back of his head in confusion. 

"Not... Not that I am dirty or anything. Haha" Chanyeol said trying to do some disaster management but nothing seemed to go his way this morning.

Baekhyun smiled and looked down at the floor. "I'm here to pack my stuff" he said in a low voice.

Chanyeol registered the gravity in his voice. "Are you going home?" he asked quietly.

Baekhyun nodded. Chanyeol wanted to ask him to stay, but Baekhyun didn't know that Chanyeol was aware of his situation with his step-father.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight around 9"

There were things Chanyeol wanted to say but he knew the timing was not right so he decided to stay shut.

"What is wrong with your face?" Baekhyun asked suddenly, looking at Chanyeol's messed up appearance.

He immediately rushed to the mirror to check. "Oh" he said with a sigh. "I am just hungover. Had too much to drink at D.O's last night" he said reassuringly.

"You spent the night in D.O's room?" Baekhyun asked with a hint of bitter jealously in his voice.

Chanyeol nodded.

"Just you and him?" he asked even though he knew it was none of his business. But he had to.

"No there were others. Kai, Sehun and Luhan too"

"Oh great" Baekhyun said, suddenly sounding happy with a smile. "Take a hot shower. You'll feel better" he said finally and nodded.

When Chanyeol came out of the shower, he found a bottle of medicine kept on his bedside table. He picked it up and saw that it was a medicine to cure hangovers. He also knew who had kept it there. The thought made him smile. 

\---

By lunch time that day, everyone had left for their holidays, except Suho and his group which now officially included Chanyeol, D.O, Kai and Sehun.

And of course, there was Baekhyun also still left in the campus, and would be leaving by dinnertime.

Since the kitchen staff had also left for their breaks, it was Suho and Chen who were in charge of the food and something told everyone that it was a bad decision.

"I am not making food for him" Chen said angrily as everyone turned towards him.

"You have to cook for everyone who stays behind, including him" Suho said in a calm tone.

By then everyone around them knew they were talking about Baekhyun. Half of them agreed with Chen, while the other half agreed with Suho.

Just then Chanyeol entered. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Good timing" Kris said as he got up. "He gets to decide whether to feed him or not"

"What are you all talking about? Feed whom?" Chanyeol asked all confused.

"Baekhyun" D.O said softly.

"Chanyeolla, you decide if we should cook for Baekhyun or not. I don't want to" Chen said folding his arms in front of his chest.

Chanyeol was overwhelmed to see them all caring about him so much.

"We are in charge of the food now and he is a student here. It would be wrong for us to only think about ourselves"

"Aah Whyyyy" Chen cried. "You know he is such a vile person and after knowing what he has done to you. I cant't forgive him"

"I respect your decision but it was I who was affected and it is me who has a right to decide if I forgive him or not"

"What he has done doesn't deserve an easy forgiveness" Kai added and D.O glared at him in anger. In return Kai throw a flying kiss towards him which made him blush and look away.

"I know and I don't think I can forgive him completely. But I don't want to live my life hating a person who is actively looking for forgiveness."

Everyone around him understood what he said.

\---

The lunch was served and it was not appealing. Everyone looked through the lunch window and took a little of everything in their lunch trays, dreading the thought of eating it. But the growl of their hungry stomachs was forcing them to try and eat.

All eleven of them placed their trays on the table and looked at each other to start first.

"Taste and tell me how it is" Suho said.

Sehun turned to Luhan. "How much do you love me Lulu?"

Luhan predicted what Sehun would say next. "Not enough to eat this first" he replied and Sehun sighed.

A happy Kai then looked at D.O with puppy eyes, blinking tree times. D.O gave in immediately. All his defenses rendered weak in front of Kai.

"Fine" D.O said. "I'll taste it first."

"You're so lucky Kai" Sehun said angrily glaring at Luhan who forcefully coughed in return.

Just as D.O was about to take the first bite, Chanyeol picked up his tray and stood up.

"It can't be that bad that you have to throw it away" Lay said.

But Chanyeol wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed on the table across. Where Baekhyun sat alone, eating the dreadful food that was served, in silence.

Chanyeol didn't say a word and left the table with his tray. He walked over to where Baekhyun was sitting and placed the tray right next to his. Baekhyun's eyes tore away from the food and he looked straight at Chanyeol.

"What are you doing?" Baekhyun asked in a shock.

"Eating with you" Chanyeol said silently as he sat down.

"From now on" Chanyeol continued, "You're not eating alone"


	22. Chapter 22

No body said a word. Everyone else back at the table simply picked up their trays and followed what Chanyeol did, starting with Suho and D.O.

Baekhyun looked at each of them one by one and was almost on the verge of crying. He had been at this college for over 6 months and this was the first time he was not alone at lunch.

"Are you sick?" Sehun asked Baekhyun who was not expecting any questions.

"Who?" Baekhyun asked. "Me?" and Sehun nodded.

"No. Why?" Baekhyun replied.

"Then why would a healthy person eat such food?" he added and everyone around him laughed. The awkward tension that had built up among them had finally been broken.

"It's not that bad" Chen said.

"You haven't even touched your food yet" Xiumin accused him.

"That's why I think it's not that bad." Chen said with a devious smile.

"I think we'll have to starve" Tao said. "I should have decided to go home" he complained.

"Not for long" Suho said. "I have hired a chef who will cook for us during the holiday."

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

"Didn't I tell you all?" Suho asked mockingly. "I'm very rich." he said with a smile

Everyone picked up bits of their food and started throwing at Suho who tried to dodge them all.

Amidst all the yelling and screaming, came out a distinct soft voice.

"Are there ingredients still left in the kitchen?"

Everyone suddenly became silent and turned to look at the source. It was Baekhyun.

"Ye... Yes" Suho said. "There's spaghetti I guess"

Baekhyun nodded. He got up and walked over to the kitchen.

He found the spaghetti and looked for garlic and olive oil along with some pepper flakes.

"Do we have Parmesan?" Baekhyun called out.

"In the shelf above the sink" Suho answered.

"What are you making?" Luhan yelled, looking interested.

"Is everyone okay with Spaghetti Aglio e Olio?" Baekhyun asked.

"Yoohoo" Sehun yelled.

"Yes definitely" Chen said and everyone else agreed too. Except Kai.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio was Kai's favorite dish and he was afraid his dislike towards Baekhyun would make him hate the dish too.

"I don't want him to cook my favorite dish. I hate it and I hate him" Kai said to D.O.

"You haven't even tasted it yet. How can you hate it and him already?" D.O asked in return.

"If I don't like it then am I allowed to hate him?" Kai asked innocently to which D.O just smiled and approved.

In about half an hour, the spaghetti was cooked and served at the table. 

Everyone dug in immediately. They all took the first bite and were blown away by the amazing taste. They all praised and thanked Baekhyun for saving their lunch from dying a horrible death and rushed to finished it. All but Chanyeol took his time. So did Kai. Chanyeol was appreciating the food kept in front of him. It was the first time he was eating something prepared by Baekhyun.

Kai, on the other hand, was looking at the spaghetti with skepticism, trying to find fault. He saw everyone eating it like they would never get food in the future.

Kai picked up his fork and twisted it around the spaghetti. Pulling it away from the plate, he took the first bite. His eyes immediately shot open and he gaped. This Spaghetti Aglio e Olio was better than what he had eaten at some of the best Italian Restaurants.

He cleaned his plate faster than others and got up. D.O looked at him in horror. Was he going to do something? Kai ran around the table and rushed towards Baekhyun. He pushed Chanyeol, making him move away from Baekhyun and Kai sat himself down between then.

D.O thought something horrible was about to happen. But what actually happened was far from what D.O had imagined.

Kai interlocked his arms with Baekhyun's and placed his head on his shoulder.

Baekhyun was looking at Kai in absolute shock. He looked up and Chanyeol who just shrugged. Everyone around the table was now only staring at Kai and Baekhyun.

"Give me your recipe" Kai said softly after a few seconds. Everyone burst out laughing.

D.O was glaring at them with satanic eyes. 

"I guess it's true. The way to a man's heart is indeed through his stomach" Sehun said with amusement in his voice.

"Come back here" D.O half yelled, half pleaded.

"Only when you can make Aglio e Olio as good as him" Kai said settling comfortably on Baekhyun's arms and closing his eyes.

Baekhyun looked at everyone and smiled. He was not alone anymore.


	23. Chapter 23

The time for Baekhyun to leave was here. Chanyeol went to the room before he was leaving.

"Is it time?" Chanyeol asked.

"Yes" Baekhyun said, looking at him with his bag in one hand and his coat on the other.

Chanyeol didn't know what to say. He wanted Baekhyun to stay back. He was afraid something might happen to him at home.

"Sorry" Chanyeol said.

"Thank you" Baekhyun said at the exact same time.

"What are you sorry for?"

"What are you thankful for" Chanyeol asked.

"For what you did at the cafeteria" Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol smiled. "I am sorry for what I said that day in the morning. About you deserving that" Chanyeol said, pointing at the bruises that once covered Baekhyun's face.

Baekhyun saw the pain in his eyes. He really meant it.

"It's forgotten" he said with a reassuring smile. "I better get going now. My car must be here/" Baekhyun opened the door to leave.

"Call me if you need anything" Chanyeol said before he was about to go out the door.

Baekhyun immediately turned back.

"What?" he asked in a shock.

"What?" Chanyeol asked back, cursing himself for saying that.

"What did you just say?"

Chanyeol shook his head frantically. "Nothin"' I said nothing. Looking at Chanyeol made Baekhyun smile.

"I don't have your number" Baekhyun said, still smiling.

Chanyeol ran to his desk and pulled out a paper and a pen and hastily jotted down his number.

"Here" he said, handing it to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun immediately took it and kept it in his pocket. He turned again to walk out the door when he heard Chanyeol call out to him again.

"Baekhyun"

He turned around again and found Chanyeol staring at the floor this time, avoiding eye contact.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Don't get hurt again" Chanyeol said softly.

"I won't" Baekhyun smiled and closed the door behind him.

Inside the room, Chanyeol rushed to the sink to splash water on his face that was burning as hot as fire.

Outside the room, Baekhyun stood with his right hand over his heart and his left hand on the doorknob, contemplating if he should go back inside. Because at that particular moment, all he wanted to do was rush back inside and kiss Chanyeol as hard as he could.

\---

The boys' practice was going on pretty smoothly. The entire day they spent time with each other, composing song and helping each other train. The auditions were something they all were very serious about. 

It had been 15 days since the breaks had started. 15 days since Chanyeol had not seen Baekhyun. He hadn't even called once in all this time.

Chanyeol would have called himself but he didn't have his number. Neither did anyone else.

I should have taken his number instead, Chanyeol cursed himself for this stupidity. 

D.O sensed Chanyeol's uneasiness. "He hasn't called yet, has he?" he asked.

Chanyeol simply shook his head. "What? No. Who?" he asked all baffled. "I wasn't thinking about him" he tried to defend himself.

"Give it up Chanyeolla" Sehun said flatly. "The bliss in life is accepting love" he said, taking Luhan's hand in his and kissing it light, making Luhan smile.

Kai joined in and hugged D.O from behind. "I'd ship you" he said with a grin.

"You'd ship yourself with him if I'd not been here" D.O said to Kai, a little irritated by remembering Kai's reaction after eating Baekhyun's dish.

"That's true" Kai said mockingly and kissing D.O on the lips.

"Too much PDA" Chanyeol said, closing his eyes with his hands.

"You're just jealous that you don't get to do it with Baekhyun" Sehun mocked which made Chanyeol turn red.

"Anyone up for a late night party?" Kai asked softly so others wouldn't hear. "We have beer in the fridge"

"I'm game" Sehun said standing up and raising his hand.

"I'm in too" Luhan said looking at Sehun.

"I have no choice" D.O said with a straight face.

They all turned towards Chanyeol. He smacked his hands on this thighs and stood up. "Let's go"

They bid their farewell to the others and left for D.O's room.

"In my room?" D.O complained. "Again?"

"That's coz no one would suspect you baby" Kai said softly and D.O wished he had more control over his feelings. But when Kai said something, D.O usually followed it like a command.

Sehun emptied his fridge and brought all the cans of beer he had in his room over to D.O's.

"Here's to relationships" Kai said, raising his can up for a toast.

"And to Chanyeol's resolved feelings towards Baekhyun" Sehun added which landed him a straight kick from Chanyeol.

They were all one beer down when they heard a noise. It was like someone shut the door.

"I think it came from your room" D.O said looking at Chanyeol.

"Who would enter my room without knocking... that too so late?"

"Let's check it out" Luhan suggested.

"You all sit here" Chanyeol said. "I'll go look."

He got up, ready to leave.

"Call my name before someone kills you" Sehun added with a smile and D.O rolled his eyes at the 20 year old boy who often acted like he's 5.

Chanyeol went to his room and opened the door. There was no one there. He looked at everything in a glance. Nothing was missing, nothing was touched. Just as he was about the close the door back again, the door of the shower opened.

Baekhyun stood before him, more injured than he had ever seen before.


	24. Chapter 24

Chanyeol stood there for a moment, unable to move. Every inch of his body was trying to stop him from doing something back.

He moved closer to Baekhyun, closing the door behind him.

"Was it another accident?" Chanyeol asked in anger.

Baekhyun looked away, not wanting to lie to Chanyeol.

"I asked you something" Chanyeol yelled.

"Yes" Baekhyun said, looking at him. "I fell from the stairs" he lied.

The frustration that was boiling up inside of Chanyeol had reached it's peak. Forming a fist, he banged his hand directly on the wall on his left. 

"Chanyeol" Baekhyun screamed his name, attempting to rush to his side. But Chanyeol put his bleeding hand out.

"Stay there" he yelled. 

The others in the room had heard the noise so they rushed into Chanyeol's room.

"Chanyeol" D.O said. "What hap..." his speech was cut short when he looked at Baekhyun, who was so badly bruised that it was getting hard to recognize him.

Kai, Sehun and Luhan stared in silent horror. They had never seen anyone beaten up so bad. 

"Your hand" D.O said, staring at the blood dripping from his fist.

"Get out" Chanyeol said in a low yet angry voice.

'But...' D.O attempted. 

"GET OUT" Chanyeol screamed at the top of his voice.

D.O knew it was not the time to reason with him so he simply closed the door and they all went back to his room.

Chanyeol was now staring at Baekhyun with tears of rage in his eyes.

"I told you not to get hurt" Chanyeol said.

"I am sorry" was all that Baekhyun could manage to say.

Baekhyun didn't know what happened because in the next moment, Chanyeol rushed towards Baekhyun and wrapped his arms around him. Baekhyun let down all his defenses in that moment and embraced Chanyeol, holding him tightly around his waist.

In was in that moment that Baekhyun broke down completely. The tears that he had been holding for over 6 years now, finally strolled down his eyes. Every wall he had ever built around himself, came down crumbling in that very embrace. He had been wanting for someone to hold him for so long that being lonely had become a second nature to Baekhyun. 

Chanyeol stood there, unmoved, ready to hold Baekhyun for as long as he needed Chanyeol to. 

Once Baekhyun had calmed down, Chanyeol made him sit on the bed and knelt down, holding Baekhyun's hand in his and placing them on his thighs.

"We need to go to the hospital" he said, looking at Baekhyun.

"We can't" Baekhyun said, shaking his head.

"Why?" Chanyeol asked, although he knew the reason.

'I just can't."

Chanyeol got up. 'Fine. I am going to get you some medicines. But once I am back, you need to tell me what happened. And I want the truth' he commanded.

Baekhyun heard the conviction in his voice and simply nodded.

"Your hand" Baekhyun said before Chanyeol was about to leave.

Chanyeol looked at his knuckles. "I'll get it fixed at the medical store" he said, leaving Baekhyun behind. 

He dropped in at D.O' where everyone was sitting in dead silence.

"I'm off to get Baekhyun some meds. If someone asks, cover for me"

"I'll come along" D.O offered and Chanyeol nodded.

"Keep checking on Baekhyun till we're back" D.O told Kai while planting a soft kiss on his lips. "We'll be back soon" he said and Kai nodded. 

\---

It took them almost an hour to find a medical store that was open at this hour. Once they had Chanyeol's hand fixed and had bought everything they thought would be sufficient for Baekhyun, they rushed back to the college.

"Did Baekhyun tell you what happened?" D.O asked once they were back in the campus.

Chanyeol shook his head. "But I am about to find out" he said and D.O nodded.

Before they were about to enter the dorm, Chanyeol held D.O by his hand and stopped him.

"D.O" Chanyeol said as D.O looked at him.

"This thing... with Baekhyun, it's bad" he continued.

"What do you mean?" D.O asked him.

"All the injuries that he has, are in the most vulnerable places. His face is covered with bruises. When someone attacks your face, you cover them with forearms or your hands"

"But Baekhyun has no injuries on his hands" D.O added, remembering Baekhyun's bruises from high school and from now.

"It's like he never tried to save himself. Not even once"

"You mean he consciously got beat up?" D.O asked in shock.

"I don't know. It's just a theory for now. But we need to get to the bottom of this. I can't see him suffer like this D.O" Chanyeol said, with moistened eyes.

D.O placed his hand on Chanyeol's shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to help" D.O promised.


	25. Chapter 25

Back in the room, Chanyeol helped Baekhyun sit up. He hoped he had brought enough medicines.

"Take your shirt off" Chanyeol said.

"What? Why?" Baekhyun asked a little flustered.

Chanyeol held up the cotton swab in one hand and disinfectant in the other.

"For this" he said.

"There's really no need" Baekhyun protested. "They heal themselves up pretty quick"

"Take your shirt off or I will take it off for you"

Baekhyun really didn't want to and he had his reasons.

"I'm waiting" Chanyeol said with authority.

Hesitantly, Baekhyun pulled his shirt over his head and threw it aside, leaving Chanyeol in shock.

Every inch of Baekhyun's front body was black and blue. The abdominal area looked like it had major blood clots formed inside the skin. It looked as if he had been repeatedly kicked on his abdomen. There was hardly any normal skin visible. 

Chanyeol made him stand up and turned him around. His back was bruise free. He didn't understand it. Any person would turn their back when someone tried to hit them on their torso. Baekhyun looked like he intentionally took hits where they would hurt more.

"Stay here" Chanyeol commanded and ran off from the room.

He ran down the hall and took the stairs to go to the ground floor. 

He reached outside the first room on the floor and banged the door with his fist. There was no response. Then he banged the door again.

A very sleepy voice called out. 'Who's there?'

"Hyung" Chanyeol said. "Suho Hyung, open the door"

Hearing Chanyeol's voice, Suho immediately jumped out of his bed, leaving Kris in his half naked state. He hurriedly wore his t-shirt and trousers and ran towards the door.

"What's wrong?" Suho said, looking at Chanyeol who was about to cry.

"Hyung..." Chanyeol tried to say but his tears were choking his voice. "It's Baekhyun. He is hurt" he finally managed to say.

"Calm down" Suho asked. "And tell me what happened"

Chanyeol explained everything to him. "Hyung, you're rich, aren't you? Can't you call a doctor here who would examine him once?"

"It's be better to take him to a hospital"

Chanyeol shook his head. "He doesn't want to"

"Why?"

"I can't tell you that hyung, not yet. So please can you call someone?"

Suho thought for a moment. "Kris..." he said turning back. "Kris wake up"

Kris woke up from his sleep and was about to get out of the bed when Suho interrupted. "Wear your pants before you come out" and shut the door behind him.

"He's a little absent minded" Suho said, trying to compensate for his embarrassment with stupid excuses.

Kris came out in less than a minute with just his trousers on, revealing a perfectly sculpted torso that made Chanyeol stare in awe.

"He's taken" Suho said, looking at Chanyeol's who couldn't take his eyes off Kris.

"Hmm?" Chanyeol asked, still looking at the perfect abs that rested on his body.

Suho snapped his fingers in front of Chanyeol's face to bring him back to this world.

"Something about Baekhyun... you were saying?"

"Baekhyun.. yes" Chanyeol said, coming back to his senses. 

"Why am I here?" Kris asked, all confused but still very sleepy.

"Your brother's a doctor at MaxCare Hospital, isn't he?" Suho asked Kris.

"Umm no. He is the owner of the hospital" Kris said coolly. 

Suho told Kris whatever he knew.

"Don't worry. We can arrange for a private room and confidential consultations. No one will know it's him who's admitted." Kris told Chanyeol.

"Really?" Chanyeol asked. "Thank you.. thank you so much" he said with a humble bow.

\---

When Chanyeol returned to his room, he found D.O, Kai, Sehun and Luhan sitting there talking to Baekhyun.

"Baekhyun" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun turned to look at him.

"We're going to the hospital"

"I told you we can't" Baekhyun protested.

Chanyeol didn't know how else to convince him without telling him the truth.

"If..." Chanyeol said biting his lips in frustration. "If you're afraid that the hospital will find out about your father, don't worry. It's a private room and your details will be kept confidential. No one will ask you anything."

Baekhyun stared at him in horror. "How did you know about this?" he asked.

D.O butted in. "I told him" he said as Baekhyun turned from Chanyeol to D.O, still consumed in shock.

"Back in school I overheard your conversation with your mom" D.O said with his head hung low. "I am sorry"

Baekhyun didn't know what to say. It had been 6 years since he had been carrying the burden of this secret on his shoulders. But now that it was out, it didn't feel any lighter.

"Please let's just go now" Chanyeol pleaded. 

"Sehun, call a taxi" he said and Sehun went out to make a call. Luhan followed him.

"Let's help him pack" Kai said to D.O and they started putting all his essential items in a bag.

Once the taxi was there, all five of them met Kris and Suho by the main entrance.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol in anger, raising his eyebrows to which Chanyeol mouthed a NO, indication that these two didn't know the whole story.

All eight of them stood there, staring at the taxi.

"Couldn't you have called one more?" Kris asked Sehun.

"How was I supposed to know you'd come along" Sehun replied, shrugging.

"I think we can do it" Suho said and D.O looked at him in horror. He really hated packed places.

"Baekhyun will sit in the front" Chanyeol added. "The rest in the back"

"How are 7 people supposed to fit in the back of a car?" D.O protested.

"You all have boyfriends. Sit on each other's lap" Chanyeol said and took Baekhyun's hand to make him sit in the passenger's seat, before making himself comfortable in the back.


	26. Chapter 26

Once they reached the hospital, Baekhyun was privately shifted to a room reserved for VIPs on the 27th Floor. Kris's older brother came in to visit.

"Is this the friend you were talking about?" he asked.

"Yes hyung" Kris said.

"What happened to him?"

"He got in an accident" Chanyeol quickly responded.

Kris's brother sighed. "I need to know the truth to treat him better young man"

Baekhyun saw how Chanyeol was struggling to keep the truth hidden. But he was already sick of living a lie.

"I was beaten by my step-father" Baekhyun quickly added and everyone looked at him in surprise. Kris and Suho gasped.

The doctor came in closer to examine him. "We'll get some x-rays done and a few more tests to check if there's any internal bleeding" he said. "And don't worry, we'll keep this information confidential, for as long as you wish to"

Baekhyun thanked and he left.

It was too late and even though Baekhyun didn't say it, everyone knew he was in a lot of pain.

A nurse quietly entered to give him some sedatives.

Just as she was injecting the morphine into the IV tube, Baekhyun turned towards the others.

"You guys can go back now' he said. 'I'll be fi..."

The sedative was so strong that he dozed off before he could complete his sentence.

\---

Baekhyun woke up at around 5 am in the morning. The morphine had worn off and he was in pain again. He tried to sit up and saw everyone was still there, none of them had left.

Baekhyun, although in a lot of pain, didn't cry because it hurt. He cried because his heart was full of gratitude for the people who were with him here.

But most of all, he was thankful to the boy sitting by his bed with his head rested near Baekhyun's leg and his hands tightly wrapped around his own. 

Watching him sleep like this was like watching a baby sleep. He looked so peaceful that Baekhyun would give his whole life up to keep watching him like this.

He tried to free his hand to reach the buzzer and call a nurse but the movement woke Chanyeol.

"Hmm..." he said with his eyes half open. "You're up", smiled Chanyeol.

Baekhyun nodded.

"Are you in pain? Do you want water? Should I call the nurse?" Chanyeol said attempting to get up when Baekhyun caught hold of his hand and made him sit back down.

Baekhyun reached closer to Chanyeol and placed his thumb on the corner of Chanyeol's lips.

Chanyeol heart was beating so fast that he thought he might pass out.

Baekhyun ran his thumb down. "You're drooling"

And embarrassed Chanyeol immediately withdrew himself and wiped his drool off.

"Ahem..." he said. "Do you want anything?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun smiled at him and shook his head.

In less than a minute the nurse entered the room. "We'll take you for your test now. Doctor ordered it to be done early morning to avoid attention"

Chanyeol moved away as she came near to detach his IV tube.

"How long will the tests take?" Chanyeol asked.

"We have to run various tests to get a thorough examination" she said, "So it might take up to three hours"

"Can I come along?" he asked the nurse.

Baekhyun shook his head. "Why don't you take others and go back to the dorm. It must be really uncomfortable for you and them."

"I am fine" Chanyeol retorted.

"Go back and get some sleep. Please" Baekhyun pleaded. 

Chanyeol nodded, halfheartedly. 

Baekhyun moved towards the door with the nurse when he heard Chanyeol call him.

"Baek..." Chanyeol said and Baekhyun turned. It was the first time Chanyeol had called him Baek.

"Be careful okay?" he said. "I'll be back before your tests are done."

Baekhyun was too hung up on Chanyeol calling him Baek to even respond. 

The door opened and the nurse guided him out as Chanyeol stood there, not wanting to leave him even for a minute.


	27. Chapter 27

The next seven days were very busy for everyone. Baekhyun was kept in the hospital for recovery. They were all relieved to find out that there was nothing major and a week's rest in the hospital would help him recover quickly.

On the first day when Chanyeol and taken everyone back to the dorms and thanked Suho and Kris sincerely for their help, he asked the rest to meet him in his room.

Once they were gathered, Chanyeol began.

"I need to find out everything that is going on with Baekhyun. Since when he has been abused, why, why has he never complained, why didn't anyone at school help him, whether he used to intentionally get abused after bullying me and what made him change" Chanyeol said in one breath.

"Sehun and Luhan, you try to find out about his family" D.O said. "I and Kai will try to get information from school. Since I am ex student, it will be easier for me"

"One more thing" Chanyeol added and everyone looked at him.

"There was a boy in our school, Taehyun, he and Baekhyun were...' Chanyeol felt the rage rising in his chest just thinking about him. "They were close. He was a senior so you wouldn't know him" Chanyeol said to D.O.

D.O nodded. "I'll try and find him" he said. 

Once everything was decided, they dispersed.

\---

Since then, everyone visited the hospital in shifts since more than two visitors were not allowed, especially if they wanted to keep Baekhyun's profile low and unnoticeable. They always came in pairs so Baekhyun had named them all. When Kai and D.O came, he called them KaiSoo. For Sehun and Luhan it was HunHan and for Kris and Suho, it was KrisHo.

The all came and went but the only thing that remained constantly with him was Chanyeol. He refused to budge from Baekhyun's side. For 7 days, Chanyeol spent every waking moment taking care of Baekhyun.

"I don't deserve this Chanyeol" Baekhyun said on the 4th night of his admission in the hospital. He was trying to sleep but was unable to, even with the sedatives that were now given to him in the form of tablet. Chanyeol laid on the spare bed parallel to Baekhyun's. Chanyeol was looking at him. He spent a lot of time looking at Baekhyun whether he was awake or asleep.

"What?" he asked softly.

"This" Baekhyun said, pointing to everything around him. "You..." he said and then added "taking care of me" at the end. 

"Why? Because of our past?"

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. He didn't say because of him or what he did. He said 'our', like it was both of their faults. But it wasn't. It was solely Baekhyun's fault and he knew that very well.

"Because of what I did to you" Baekhyun said in a low tone.

"Can I ask you something?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun nodded.

"Why did you do it?"

The question coming from Chanyeol was so straightforward that he didn't know how to answer. How he confess his love to Chanyeol? What if he rejected it and the friendship they had finally formed was broken again?

Baekhyun sighed. "Don't ask me the reason Chanyeol"

"Why?"

"Because anything I say will sound like an excuse for what I did. You don't deserve excuses. You deserve my endless apologies and me trying to make it up to you for the rest of my life" Baekhyun said, tearing up a little.

"I don't care if you don't tell me" Chanyeol said to Baekhyun. "I'll try finding them out on my own." The gravity in his voice made Baekhyun realise that he was serious and he wouldn't give up without finding the truth.

"Just promise me one thing" Chanyeol said.

"What?"

"Promise me that you will never go back to that house of yours"

Baekhyun thought for a second. 

"I can't promise that" he said, regretfully.

Chanyeol became so furious that he wanted to punch a wall again. But instead, he got up and left the room, hoping some fresh air would help him calm down.

\---

When Chanyeol returned to the room almost 2 hours later, he saw Baekhyun was still awake.

"Why haven't you slept yet?"

"I couldn't" Baekhyun said.

"Why?"

"I was scared" Baekhyun confessed.

"Of what?" Chanyeol asked softly.

There was a long silence before either spoke.

"I was scared you wouldn't come back" Baekhyun said before a tear drop fell from his eyes.

Those words from Baekhyun made Chanyeol's heart melt in ways he never thought was possible. Chanyeol rushed to him in an instant. He took Baekhyun's face in his hands and stared into his dreamy eyes. There was hardly any distance between them. Chanyeol's heart was beating so fast that it could probably be heard by Baekhyun.

"I will always come back for you" Chanyeol whispered before softly pressing Baekhyun's lips against his own.

The moment their lips met, it overpowered everything the had in the past. They were both living in the now, united as they should have been years ago.


	28. Chapter 28

_The moment their lips met, it overpowered everything the had in the past._ Every feeling, every resentment, every hurtful thing said or done, just vanished. The only thing that mattered was how much they needed each other. _They were both living in the now, united as they should have been years ago._

The moment their lips met, it set everything ablaze. It was a fire that had been subdued for years that suddenly found a release. Every atom in their body, resonated with the desires they had kep hidden for so long.

The past didn't matter, the future didn't matter. What mattered was the now.

As soon as Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun to a kiss, the latter did not even have to think about it. He gave in like it was the most natural thing to do. Like his body had been tuned for this since forever. Baekhyun softly parted his lips to give Chanyeol the access that he hungrily desired.

Baekhyun slid his hands behind Chanyeol's neck, still interlocking his lips with his own. The moment his skin touched Chanyeol, he felt a fire in his heart that he had never felt before. He had kissed a lot of people in the past two years, but none of them made him feel like Chanyeol did.

Chanyeol didn't know how his body was responding to Baekhyun's touches. All he knew was the the more grounds Baekhyun's hand covered, the more he wanted him to explore.

Suddenly he broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily, looking straight into Baekhyun's eyes.

What he saw in them, was unfamiliar to Chanyeol. He was afraid for a second that he had probably forced himself on Baekhyun. That maybe he didn't want it. But Baekhyun's eyes said something else to him. It wasn't just the thirst to be with him, it was longingness. There was no mad lust or hunger in those brown blazing eyes. All he could see was a ray of hope.

But he wasn't sure if it was his right to kiss him again because god knows he wanted to. Maybe he should apologise. But he was going mad at the thought of Baekhyun's pink plump lips that he had owned a couple of minutes ago. The lips that he wanted to kiss again.

Before Chanyeol could say something, Baekhyun pulled him by his collar kissed him with all the force he had in him. A grin spread across Chanyeol's face in between the kiss.

The feeling was mutual.

Chanyeol kissed him with more heat than he had done before. He climbed up onto the bed, lightly pinning Baekhyun under him. He got up and grabbed Baekhyun's hands with each of his and held them over his head, letting his body rub against's Baekhyun's.

He leaned in for another hungry kiss and Baekhyun completely gave in to his desires, letting out soft moans. Chanyeol slid his hands under Baekhyun's shirt and traced his skin with his fingers, while continuing to kiss him like it was his first and last time.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Chanyeol and Baekhyun broke apart.

It was the nurse.

"Haven't you given him his shots already?" Chanyeol asked bitterly, cursing a little for stopping something so good.

"I have" said the nurse with a smile.

"Then what's the matter?" Chanyeol asked, a little worried that there was something wrong with Baekhyun.

The nurse smiled again. "I just came in to tell you..." she said, pointing to the corner of the room's ceiling, 'that there's a camera here'.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both turned their heads towards where the nurse had pointed and indeed found a camera there.

"So you mean..." Chanyeol asked in embarrassment.

"Yes" the nurse said, pursing her lips in a smile.

"Everything?" Chanyeol asked shocked.

The nurse nodded. "Everything!" she confirmed and left the room politely, leaving a very embarrassed Baekhyun and a very red Chanyeol in the room.

\---

The next three days went by pretty smoothly. Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun were pretty embarrassed of being found out that day so they completely avoided the conversation with each other.

Baekhyun was back in the dorm and D.O, Kai and Sehun had come to visit.

"Feeling all better now?" Kai asked Baekhyun.

"Yes." he replied. "All good now"

"Why don't you come out with Chanyeol later?" D.O asked.

"What?" Chanyeol asked nervously. "Why will we come out? What is there to come out?"

"I think he is talking about going out of the room" Baekhyun said with a chuckle.

Sehun breathed in deeply. "I am sensing a weird energy around you two" he said pointing both his index fingers, one at Chanyeol, one at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol stared at him in horror as he brought both his fingers together and joined them horizontally.

"Something happened between the two of you, didn't it?" he asked with a devilish smile.

"What?" Chanyeol blurted out. "What nonsense are you talking about? Nothing happened between us. Right Baek?" he said turning to Baekhyun.

"Oh so it's Baek now?" Kai teased as Chanyeol cursed himself for not being able to control his tongue.

"Well something did happen" Baekhyun said softly smiling.

"I knew it" Sehun said. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Chanyeol asked Baekhyun awkwardly, gritting his teeth and furrowing his eyebrows at him. "I though we were not talking about it?" Chanyeol said through gritted teeth.

"YOU were not talking about it so I wasn't talking about it" Baekhyun said. "Doesn't mean it didn't happen"

"WILL SOMEONE ALREADY TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?" Sehun asked in frustration.

"We kissed" Baekhyun blurted out without regret.

All four of them gasped and clutched their mouths with their hands, including Chanyeol.

"Why are you shocked?" Sehun asked looking at Chanyeol's reaction. "You were involved in the act."

Chanyeol moved his hand from his mouth to cover his face, he was turning red.

"And we got caught in the act" Baekhyun added.

"You did what?" Kai, D.O and Sehun asked in unison.

"There was a camera in the room and we were making out and the nurse came in to tell us that they could see us"

All three of the fell to the floor laughing and even Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh at the absurd situation.

Chanyeol just stood there, sinking deep in embarrassment from their reactions.


	29. Chapter 29

It had been over a month since their first kiss. A month and a half to be exact. The auditions were a month away and everyone was busy. Chanyeol and Baekhyun hardy had time to even see each other throughout the day.

Chanyeol was new to this whole situation. He had a girlfriend before, but the feelings he had for Baekhyun were different from what he had ever experienced. Mainly because he'd never dated a guy before.

Wait. Chanyeol thought, sitting in the practice room. Are we dating? Baekhyun hadn't said anything about them being exclusive. Chanyeol naturally thought that Baek would take the lead between them since Chanyeol had almost no experience in relationships, especially with a guy.

He was reminded of the wild kiss they'd shared which had left him wanting for more. He smiled like an idiot sitting all alone, lost in his wonderful world of Baekhyun.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Kai asked Chanyeol by placing his hand on his shoulder. He was eating cheetos.

Chanyeol looked at his hand was resting on his shoulder. "Did you just clean your fingers on my shirt?" he yelled.

Kai withdrew his hand and smiled.

"YAAH... KIM JONGIN" Chanyeol yelled at Kai.

"What's the matter?" D.O interrupted on his boyfriend's name being called with such force.

Chanyeol pointed at Kai's hands and then at his own shirt.

D.O face palmed himself. "How many times have I told you not to do that to others?" he asked Kai.

"You mean he does that to you too and... YOU LET HIM?" a baffled Chanyeol asked.

"He loves me so he lets me do whatever I want to him" Kai said with a sense of pride.

'You're both crazy' Chanyeol said, encircling his finger on the side of his head in a loop.

"I am going to change" he said, getting up and frustration and exiting from the practice room.

\---

When he reached his room, Baekhyun wasn't there. He must be at practice.

He went to change and when he came out, he saw that he had a text on his phone.

He hoped it was Baekhyun but he remembered that he still didn't have his number. The entire situation didn't make sense to him and he couldn't figure out how he was at the center of it.

He unlocked his phone and saw it was a text from Sehun in their group chat.

 **Sehun:** _I found something out. Let's meet at 11 in my room._

 **Kai:** _What did you find?_

 **Sehun:** _Why would I ask you to meet me if I could tell you everything here?_

 **Luhan:** _hihi_

 **D.O:** _Shut up Luhan_

 **Luhan:** _Sorry_

 **Sehun:** _Luhan stop being scared of D.O ffs_

 **Chanyeol:** _GOSH can you just talk about what's important? Why are you all so weird?_

 **Sehun:** _You mean why we are so AWESOME?_

 **Chanyeol:** _Whatever. See you all at 11._

Didn't matter how weird they were, they were ready to do anything for Chanyeol and he loved them for it.

\---

At sharp 11, everyone gathered at Sehun and Kai's room. Well it was Sehun and Luhan's room now because Kai had practically moved to D.O's room and Luhan had moved to Sehun's.

"Okay so here's what I found out" Sehun said taking his journal out.

"You have a diary?" Kai laughed.

"I need something to keep tabs on all of you" Sehun said with a flat voice.

"Wait... WHAT?" D.O exclaimed.

"Ahem" Sehun said. "Anyways, going back to the topic... Baekhyun's father passed away ten years ago in a car crash where he too was involved. Baekhyun survived but his father passed away."

"Oh god" Kai said, feeling remorseful about the situation.

Sehun continued. "His mother married a rich investment banker three months after the death. Baekhyun has a half sister who is 9 years old."

Everyone nodded in acknowledgement of the information.

'"I talked to a few people in the neighborhood but none of them knew anything. So i had to bribe a maid who work's at Baekhyun's house" Sehun continued.

'What did you find out?' D.O asked.

"Apparently, the beating started around 6 years ago" Sehun said.

"What triggered it?" Kai asked.

"Baekhyun's step-father is violent and frequently hits his mother. One night when he came drunk and tried to hit his mother. Baekhyun had had enough of it so he tried to stop him. In return, his step-father repeatedly beat him up"

No one knew what to say.

"Since then, whenever he sensed that his step father was about to hit his mother, he put himself in front of him so that he would get beaten up instead of his mother." Sehun added.

Chanyeol sat there in shock, absorbing everything he was hearing. He collected his thoughts back again.

"Did you find out why his wounds were so frequent in high school?" Chanyeol asked and Sehun just shook his head.

"I think Taehyun would be able to shed some light on it" D.O said. "I've already contacted him and now I'm just waiting for him to respond back."

Chanyeol turned to Sehun. "Did you find out the reason why he doesn't protect himself when he is being hit? Protecting his mother is one thing, but refusing to protect himself, knowing where you'd get beaten, is something entire different."

"How... How do you know about my mom?" came a voice and all five of them turned to look at Baekhyun, standing at Sehun's door.


	30. Chapter 30

"Is this why you've been nice to me these past couple of days?" Baekhyun accusingly asked Chanyeol. "So you could dig up intel on me?"

"It's not like that Baek" Chanyeol tried to say.

Baekhyun put his palm up. "Don't..." he said with frustration. "Don't call me that." he said as tears welled up in his eyes.

He closed the door and turned away, running as fast and as away as he could from all of them.

"Baekhyun..." Chanyeol called out. "Baekhyun listen to me" he said again but his voice was no longer heard.

"Shit" he said.

"This is bad" Sehun said.

Chanyeol ran after him but the moment he went out in the hallway, Baekhyun was nowhere to be seen. "Search everywhere" Chanyeol said to his friends but they were already ready before he could ask them.

They all went in separate directions, searching for Baekhyun in every corner of the campus.

After searching for almost an hour, they all gave up.

Chanyeol stood outside the fields, panting after running through the campus frantically. Suddenly his phone rang. It was a text from D.O.

 **D.O** : _Searched through the Main Office Building. It's empty._

 **Sehun:** _Nothing here at the dorms either_

 **Kai:** _Searched the nearby areas off campus, can't find him_

 **Chanyeol:** _I just checked all the fields and every corner of the campus, he's not here either._

 **Luhan:** _I'm still at the intersection outside the college asking if anyone has seen him. None so far._

Chanyeol thought for a moment about where Baekhyun could've gone.

"Guys" he typed into the phone. "I'm going to Baekhyun's house" he sent and turned his phone off because he knew that the others would try and stop him.

He already knew where Baekhyun lived. He took a taxi and asked the driver to take him there. It was past midnight and he knew he shouldn't be there so late.

As the taxi pulled outside Baekhyun's house, he contemplated whether he should go in or go back to college. Taking a deep breath, he got off the taxi and pressed the buzzed outside the house.

The first few buzzers went unanswered, then finally upon the 5th call, a very sleepy voice spoke out the intercom. 'Who is there at this hour?' she said.

Chanyeol didn't know what to say. "Umm..." he began. "My name is Park Chanyeol. I am Baekhyun's roommate"

"Oh you know Baekhyun?" the woman asked.

"Yes" Chanyeol said. "Umm... Is Baekhyun home?" he asked reluctantly.

"What do you mean?" she said. "If you're his roommate you should know he's at school. If you're here to ask for money on Baekhyun's name then I am calling the police"

"Buzz him in" a heavy voice called from behind.

"But..." said the woman with fear in her voice.

"Buzz him in" he said sternly and Chanyeol was guided inside.

When the gates opened, Chanyeol saw what the mansion looked like from the inside. It was no less than a castle. The huge garden in front of the house was neatly maintained and it was clear that they had multiple staff members for different work at home.

"Welcome" said the same heavy voice that Chanyeol had heard on the intercom. He looked up to see a man in his early fifties. He hair grey hair but was as fit as a teenager. He held out his hand for a handshake and Chanyeol took it, bowing while holding his hand. The grip of the man's hands told him that he was very strong.

"I'm Baekhyun's father" he said. Chanyeol bowed again.

"I am Park Chanyeol, his roommate"

A frail woman who seemed too afraid to speak, stood behind Baekhyun's step-father.

"This is his mother" he said, pointing to her and Chanyeol bowed to her as well.

"Come inside" he said and Baekhyun's mother stepped back. "I'll get you something to eat and drink"

Once they were seated in the main hall, Baekhyun's step-father looked at Chanyeol intently.

"What brings you here so late at night young lad?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Baekhyun" Chanyeol said softly.

"Is he not at the college?"

Chanyeol shook his head. He didn't know what to say.

"It's been very stressful for us lately" Chanyeol said. "With the auditions coming up, no one has been able to sleep or eat properly. I thought Baekhyun would have come home"

"It's not in his nature to run away from things" he said and Chanyeol was surprised.

Was he the same person who beat Baekhyun to death? he wondered.

"Is everything all right?" Baek's step father asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost"

"I'm..." Chanyeol stuttered. "I'm fine sir."

He nodded. "Well as you can see, Baekhyun isn't home. I am sure he must have gone on a stroll. Don't worry about him too much. He will be back before you think. That kid knows how to take care of himself" he said. Chanyeol noticed Baekhyun's mother let out a soft wail at his words and rushed into the kitchen where no one would see her.

"I'll take you leave sir" Chanyeol said standing up. "I am sorry to have caused trouble for you so late, and thank you for having me here" he bowed and waked towards the door.

"Chanyeol" he called out behind him.

"Yes sir?" Chanyeol asked.

"You and Baekhyun are just friends or there's something else between you two?"

Chanyeol didn't know how to answer that or why he was asking him that question.

"We're just friends sir"

"Are you sure?"

Chanyeol stared at him blankly, wondering if he should tell him the truth.

"Yes sir" Chanyeol said confidently. "We are just friends" and he exited the doors.

After Chanyeol was gone, Baekhyun's step father turned around.

'Did you hear that?' he asked aloud.

'Yes' said Baekhyun who had been listening to the entire conversation from upstairs.


	31. Chapter 31

Baekhyun who had been happy a couple of minutes ago that Chanyeol had come to take him back, was now lying on his bed, fighting against his tears what wouldn't stop rolling out.

He doesn't have feelings for me. Baekhyun thought. Why did he kiss me then?

He remembered how embarrassed Chanyeol had been after the kiss and how he avoided talking about it. Maybe he thought it was a mistake.

With a broken heart, Baekhyun cried himself to sleep.

The next morning when he woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, his step father had already been sitting there.

He looked at the man who was so good at playing people. The masks that he wore, had only been seen by Baekhyun. He remembered how polite and courteous he had been to Chanyeol. Of course, no one must find out his true face outside the hours.

He carried the image of an angel outside while he made his home a living hell for his family.

He saw Baekhyun come downstairs and put his newspaper down.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" he asked.

Baekhyun didn't answer.

"This is your last warning. I will not let you disgrace me and my family name by letting you be with that boy"

Baekhyun didn't know what to reply. The person he had staked his entire life for, the one that he had loved with every breath of his life, thought of him only as a friend. How was he supposed to argue with that?

Baekhyun wished his step-father hadn't stumbled upon his diary all those years ago in High School.

 

****FLASHBACK****

 

_"You're a disgraceful piece of filth" he had said after reading Baekhyun's confession of love for Chanyeol._

_That night, his step father came home very drunk and immediately went to find Baekhyun's mother._

_'Come here you whore' he said, dragging her by her hair. "This is all your fault that your son is such a faggot." He slapped her and threw her to the floor. "Had you raised him well, he wouldn't be such a disgusting little piece of trash." He kicked her in her stomach._

_Baekhyun rushed to her rescue and placed himself instead of his mother and received all the beatings till his step-father was exhausted. After all, he was used to it He tried protect himself as much as he could, and managed to save himself from being hit on the most vulnerable places._

_Baekhyun didn't mind being beaten. The only thing he minded was not being able to go to school and seeing Chanyeol's face._

_The day he finally recovered and went to school, he was very excited to see Chanyeol. Every injury he sustained seems worth it to him as long as he got to see Chanyeol's smiling face._

_But that day had something else in store for him. Baekhyun had found out that Chanyeol was not only straight, but was disgusted by people like Baekhyun. His step-father's words rang in his ears._

_Was he really disgusting? If Chanyeol found out about him, he would hate him too, just like his step-father did. But his mind had already began to rebel against his will._

_He ran to the cafeteria and dragged Taehyun out to the bleachers where he fucked him like an animal._

_"This isn't disgusting. It's doesn't feel disgusting, this is who I am" Baekhyun thought. He was just starting to accept his feelings when he saw Chanyeol staring at him._

_In that moment of confusion, Baekhyun had mistaken the anger in Chanyeol's eyes as disgust. When he later went into the cafeteria and saw Luhan feeding Chanyeol, he couldn't help but feel that it wasn't his nature that people were disgusted with, but it was Baekhyun himself whom everyone hated._

_The next day, a frequent series of harassing Chanyeol started._

_The first day that Baekhyun bullied him, it was in the cafeteria. Chanyeol was eating with his friends when Baekhyun arrived with the dumpster and emptied it on Chanyeol's head._

_Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun in horror but Baekhyun was looking at everyone but him._

_"If I see anyone eating lunch with him from now onward, this is what will happen to them next" he said, pointing at all the trash that had dispersed. Everyone who sat near Chanyeol scrammed immediately and Chanyeol was left alone at his table._

_That night when Baekhyun went home, he provoked his father to hit him and this time, he didn't protect himself. It was just the first of many._

_"I am disgusting." He thought. "And I deserve this."_


	32. Chapter 32

"I have made myself very clear" Baekhyun's step father said. "You shall get engaged to Kim Taeyeon next month."

Baekhyun looked at his father in shock. He had clearly told him to stay away from Chanyeol, but there was no mention of any engagement.

"What are you talking about?" Baekhyun asked in confusion. "Why would I get engaged to anyone?"

His step father took a deep breath and looked at him threateningly. "Mr. Kim Jong-gu is a potential investing partner in my firm. He wants you as his son-in-law to take over his business for him. Once you are married to her, I will have control over both the companies"

Baekhyun's mother was sitting opposite to Baekhyun's step-father and quietly peeling oranges. Baekhyun looked at her for support but there wasn't any. She didn't even look at him once. Baekhyun didn't know what to do. How was everyone else in more control of his life than he was? This was not something he wanted, he could never agree to it.

How vile was this man sitting in front of him that he would so easily gamble away someone else's life for his own benefits?

Baekhyun opened his mouth to refuse but he was cut short.

"I want you to carefully think about the consequences" he said looking at Baekhyun's mother and then to his half sister who was watching TV in the hall. Baekhyun understood his step father was threatening him. He had no choice now. In order to protect his mother and his half sister, whom he treated better than he would his own sister, he had to agree to what the man said.

Baekhyun nodded silently.

"Good" his step father said. "The engagement has been fixed for the 15th of next month" he added and left the room.

Baekhyun thought and realisation dawned upon him. It was the day of the auditions. 

\---

It was still 8 am when Baekhyun reached his dorm room. He found Chanyeol sitting with his head in his hands.

The moment he heard the doorknob turn, he looked at the door and called out Baekhyun's name.

Baekhyun entered and smiled slightly.

"You're back" Chanyeol said walking up to him. "Are you hurt?' he asked, looking at him carefully.

"I'm fine" Baekhyun replied.

"Where did you go?" we searched for you everywhere.

"I went over to a friend's place for the night to clear my head"

Chanyeol got a little angry. He was tempted to ask if it was Taehyun's house but refrained.

"Listen" Chanyeol said instead. "I am really sorry to have gone behind your back. It wasn't my intention to hurt you."

Baekhyun looked away from him. Did the apology really matter now?

"It's okay." he said with no commitment. "I'm already over it"

Even though he wasn't over it, he had to at least show that he was. Chanyeol didn't think of him as anything but a friend, he was getting engaged to Taeyeon next month, there wasn't really anything that Baekhyun had for himself.

"Baek" Chanyeol tried to reason with him.

"I told you to not call me that" Baekhyun said.

"You are still mad at me" Chanyeol said. "Please just listen to me once"

"I'm tired Chanyeol" Baekhyun said. "I just want to rest. We'll talk later"

Chanyeol agreed. Talking later was still better than not talking at all, so he left him to rest and went for his practice.

When he came back, he found Baekhyun still sleeping. Not wanting to wake him up, he went to sleep himself.

Upon waking up next morning, he saw Baekhyun wasn't there. After washing up and wearing his clothes, he ran to the Main Building to meet Baekhyun at the practice room. 

He searched for him everywhere, but Baekhyun was no where to be found. The next few days were pretty much the same. 

There was not a single word exchanged between them.

\---

Around 10 days before the date of audition, Chanyeol was sitting quietly in the cafeteria while everyone else around him was busy with their usual chat.

"I am so excited" Kai said happily and D.O smiled looking at him.

The air was filled with excitement mixed with nervousness. As the day of the audition approached, many students started feeling the pressure. By them almost 50% of the students had already dropped out. 

"I swear if any of you drop out from the audition' Suho said with glaring eyes at everyone, 'I will personally come and kill you"

"Oh my god you sound like my Eomma" Chen snapped.

Sehun giggled, "Suho Eomma" he said with a laugh.

"If Suho is Eomma then I am Appa?" Kris asked and everyone agreed with a chuckle. 

D.O couldn't help but laugh at the silliness, it was too funny for him.

Suddenly he looked at Chanyeol who was staring into his food tray, not listening to their conversation.

"Does the sausage look like Baekhyun?" he asked louder than he had expect to say. Everyone on the table turned to look at Chanyeol now, who had woken up from his day dream upon hearing Baekhyun's name.

"What happened?" Chanyeol asked, clueless about everything.

Before anyone could say anything, they heard loud whispers from everyone. They turned to see a girl who was walking in the cafeteria. She asked something to the student sitting by the window and they all pointed their fingers towards Suho and group.

"Does anyone know her?" Tao asked.

"Never seen her before" Xiumin replied. 

"I know her" Sehun said "She is the daughter of Kim Jong-gu. The owner of Taeyang Group of Finances"

Everyone looked at him in shock.

"What?" Sehun asked shrugging. "I read"

The girl had now reached them and was standing next to where Chanyeol was sitting.

"Hi, I am Taeyeon" she said with a slight bow. "Do you know where Baekhyun is?"

Chanyeol eye's shot up. "How do you know Baekhyun?" he asked.

The girl looked at everyone's puzzled faces and then turned to Chanyeol.

"He's my boyfriend" she said with a smile.


	33. Chapter 33

Everyone at the table became silent and turned to look at Chanyeol who was staring into blank space.

Did he hear her correctly? There must be some misunderstanding. He was sure.

"I'm sorry" Chanyeol said. "What did you just say?"

Taeyeon, continuing to smile repeated herself. 

Chanyeol got up from the table and walked away with rage in his eyes. Was this why Baekhyun had been avoiding him?

He ran to his dorm room and found Baekhyun sitting on his bed, staring into nothing.

He was startled when he saw Chanyeol enter the room.

"There's someone to meet you" Chanyeol said.

"Who?" Baekhyun asked innocently.

The words wouldn't come out of Chanyeol's mouth.

Baekhyun waited for a response but Chanyeol was still silent.

"Chanyeol?"

Struggling with words, Chanyeol still managed to speak. "It's your girlfriend. She's here to meet you"

"Where is she?" Baekhyun asked, with a gasp.

So it must be true. He really did have a girlfriend. "Cafeteria" Chanyeol mumbled.

Before Chanyeol could say anything else, Baekhyun jumped from his bed and dashed out, leaving Chanyeol and his broken heart in the confinements of the room that was becoming smaller and smaller with each breath.

Chanyeol gasped for air. Clenching his heart, he collapsed to the floor. Why was it hurting so much? He tried to breathe but every breath was a struggle for him. 

Just that instant, D.O rushed into the room.

"Chanyeol" he called out. "Are you okay?"

He looked up at D.O and with tears rolling down his eyes, he shook his head.

"It's true D.O" Chanyeol managed to say through his shaky voice and choking words. "He's dating that girl"

D.O flung his arms around Chanyeol and rested his head on his shoulders.

"Shhh" he said, patting his hand on Chanyeol's back. "It's gonna be okay... it's gonna be okay"

\---

Baekhyun rushed to the cafeteria to find Taeyeon sitting with Chanyeol's friends. She was mumbling nonstop and everyone was just looking at her.

Baekhyun reached the table and grabbed her hand.

"Let's go" he said pulling her away from everyone on the table.

He took her to the roof of the dorm and released her hand.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in anger.

"Can't I come and visit my boyfriend?" she said, nearing him and playing with his hair.

Baekhyun backed away. "I am not your boyfriend"

"Right" Taeyeon said. "In 10 days, you'll be my fiance" she smiled.

"Haven't I told you already?" Baekhyun retorted. "This marriage means nothing to me"

"I don't care Baek." Her voice had become colder now.

"Don't call me Baek" he said, trying to suppress the anger in his voice.

"Why?" she smirked. "Does my calling you Baek remind you of someone else?"

Baekhyun turned to look at her in surprise.

"I know everything Baekhyun. Everything about Chanyeol. Your father has already told me everything"

Baekhyun couldn't believe it. She knew and yet she was ready to get married to him?

"Don't be so shocked Baekhyun. This is purely a business deal. I am the only child of my parents, which means my father won't let me have shit"

Baekhyun was finding it hard to comprehend.

"After I marry you, your father will let me have 25% of the stakes. It's a pretty good deal considering" Taeyeon continued.

"Considering what?"

"Considering the fact that all I have to do is marry you and remain married to you"

Baekhyun looked at her with loath in his eyes. She was no different from his step-father.

"Tell you what Baekhyun" She added, nearing him and placing her arms around his neck. "After we're married, I'll let you have all the fun you want with your boy toy."

The mischievous smile she put off was so ugly that Baekhyun flung her arms away from him.

"Don't be so rude darling" Taeyeon said. "You know what's at stake if you refuse" she said finally and walked away from him, exiting the door.

Baekhyun sank to the ground, wondering what he has done to deserve all this in his life.

\---

When Baekhyun went back, he found Chanyeol and D.O in his room. Without saying a word he reached his wardrobe and took all his clothes out.

"Where are you going?" D.O asked Baekhyun. Chanyeol was too hurt and too angry to say anything.

"Home" Baekhyun said. He knew staying there any longer would make things very difficult for him.

After packing, Baekhyun took his bag in his hand and moved to the door.

"Is she..." Chanyeol finally managed to speak, "really your girlfriend?"

Baekhyun didn't even turn back to look at Chanyeol when he asked the question. He simply stared at the doorknob that he was holding with his hand.

"Yes." It was all he said before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.


	34. Chapter 34

The day everyone had been waiting for, was finally here. The auditions were the next day and the entire dorm was sleepless through the night.

"Guys" Suho yelled at everyone who had gathered in the common room of the dorm. "You all need to rest in order to perform well tomorrow. Go to your rooms. NOW"

"Babe chill" Kris said coolly with his head on Suho's lap. "No one listens to you anyway"

Suho laughed. "At least you do" he said to Kris.

'No babe. I just make you think I do" he said and everyone around them giggled. 

"Where's Chanyeol?" Lay asked, looking at everyone around him.

"He's still practicing" Sehun said.

"Isn't he overdoing it?" Tao asked in concern and D.O nodded.

"Ever since that day" D.O said, referring to Taeyeon's cafeteria visit, "He's been over working himself"

"I'd do it too if it were me" Luhan added. "I'd do anything to keep my mind off Sehun if he announced one day that he has a girlfriend"

"Aww Lulu" Sehun said blowing a flying kiss at Luhan which he attempted to catch and put in his pocket.

"Ew cheesy" Chen commented at the two of them but neither of them gave a shit.

"Has Chanyeol eaten anything yet?" Kai asked. "I haven't seen him leave the practice room all day."

"Is there any food left?" D.O asked Suho and he nodded pointing at the fridge.

"I'll take it to him" D.O offered. He filled the food tray with Chanyeol's favorite dishes and walked towards the practice room. 

When he reached, he found Chanyeol sitting by the window and lightly strumming his guitar.

D.O immediately recognised the song and set the food tray aside. He waited for the cue and began singing.

For all the times that you rain on my parade

Chanyeol looked at D.O and gave a sad smile, but continued playing and D.O continued singing...

And all the clubs you get in using my name

You think you broke my heart, oh girl for goodness sake  
You think I'm crying, on my own well I ain't 

Chanyeol took over

And I didn't wanna write a song 'cause I didn't want anyone thinking I still care  
I don't but, you still hit my phone up  
And baby I be movin' on and I think you should be somethin'  
I don't wanna hold back, maybe you should know that 

Then they both joined in together

My mama don't like you and she likes everyone  
And I never like to admit that I was wrong  
And I've been so caught up in my job, didn't see what's going on  
And now I know, (D.O solo) I'm better sleeping on my own 

Chanyeol began

'Cause if you like the way you look that much  
Oh baby you should go and love yourself 

And they both finished the song with the lines

And if you think that I'm still holdin' on to somethin'  
You should go and love yourself 

"Your vocals have improved so much Chanyeol" D.O complimenting Chanyeol with a smile.

Chanyeol acknowledged the compliment with a soft smile and a nod.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Oh..." D.O said getting up and fetching him the tray. "I got you some food"

D.O didn't want to approach the topic but he had to ask.

"Did Baekhyun contact you?" he asked.

Chanyeol became a little defensive. "Why should he?" he asked. "It's not like we were dating or anything that he owes me an answer"

D.O simply nodded.

"I'm not hungry anymore" he left the tray there, full of food he had hardly touched. "I'm off to sleep."

\---

Baekhyun was lying on his bed in his house, dreading the next day. All he wanted to do was go to his dorm and lie down, looking at a peaceful and sleeping Chanyeol. He didn't even remember how many time he'd stone glances on that perfectly sculpted face when he wasn't noticing.

Remembering Chanyeol's smiling face brought one on Baekhyun's too. He knew the next day was inevitable, so he decided to get some sleep.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard the noise that was familiar, but horrifying at the same time. His step father was screaming.

"You bloody whore" Baekhyun heard. He leaped out of his bed to run to his mother. Why was he doing this? Baekhyun had agreed to everything he wanted. In return, he had given him his word that he won't lay a finger on his mother and his sister.

Baekhyun turned the doorknob and pulled the door, but it didn't move. He twisted the knob a couple more times but the door didn't open. He knocked for someone to hear and open the door from outside but no one could hear anything over the yelling of his step father and the screams of mother.

Baekhyun walked back and ran towards the door, hitting it with his feet but the door did not budge. He tried hitting it again with his shoulders, but nothing happened. Who had locked him inside?

He looked around for something that would help him and he saw his room's window. Without even planning his move, he leaped out and hung himself from the sill. Once the distance between his feet and the ground had been minimised, he let go and fell on the grass. 

Baekhyun immediately got up and ran inside his home through the front door. By the time he reached his mother, his step father had already beaten her up to his satisfaction.

Baekhyun yelled at him. "Why did you hit her?" he screamed. "You said you wouldn't do anything to her if I agreed to the marriage!" Baekhyun was on the verge of crying.

His step father took a step forwards and raised his hands to hit Baekhyun. But instead of hitting him, he smiled.

"Can't hit you" he said. "It's your engagement tomorrow" he gave a wicked smile and left Baekhyun and his mother there.

Baekhyun helped his mother up and began moving her to her room.

"Stop" she said and let go of her son's support. Slowly she walked to the counter over the fireplace and picked up her phone.

"I can walk to my room. You can go to yours now" she said and walked away from him.


	35. Chapter 35

The next morning Baekhyun woke up, got dressed and went downstairs. It was already 11 am and the function was to start at 12. His step father and Taeyeon's father had booked the entire Namsan Tower for the event. It was a congratulatory function, kept to celebrate the merging of two of the country's top financial corporations.

The plan was to first celebrate the merger and then announce Baekhyun and Taeyeon's engagement soon after the lunch. His sister also came downstairs, all ready. Baekhyun looked at her and smiled.

"Oppa" she asked. "How do I looks?" She danced in a circle to flaunt her little dress.

"Like a princess" Baekhyun said, pinching her cheeks a little.

"Where's mom?" she asked.

"She's resting" Baekhyun's step father said, walking out of his room. "She is not well so she will have to miss today's event" he said, smiling at his daughter.

Baekhyun had never hated that man more.

"Let's go" he said and they all proceeded towards the car, Baekhyun, more reluctantly.

His step father got in the first car and it drove off.

Baekhyun and his sister got into the other car and they took off too.

\---

"Has the audition started?" Kai asked, entering the college's auditorium's backstage. He looked around and there were very few people there. The backstage was mostly full of Suho and his group, with an exception of few others.

"D.O's performing." Sehun said. "I am next and then it's your turn. You won't believe the company that's here to take the audition" Sehun said excitedly looking at Kai.

The name companies that were supposed to conduct the auditions were kept a secret so the students could prepare without any bias.

"Who?" Kai asked getting all psyched.

"SM ENTERTAINMENT" he said clapping his hands and jumping repeatedly, an act which an overenthusiastic Kai gladly followed.

"OMG YESSS" he squealed. 

D.O finished his performance and earned a thunderous clap from the judged.

"I'm next" Sehun said. "Wish me luck"

"Good luck" Kai said and he went up the stage and D.O came back.

"OMG babe you were so awesome" Kai said.

"Did you even see my full performance?" D.O asked angrily.

"Of course I did" Kai lied.

"Where's Chanyeol?" D.O asked.

"He must still be at the practice room. His turn isn't unlit later" Kai said and D.O nodded.

Sehun came back and Kai went to perform. They were looking at Kai performing his song with an electrifying dance when D.O's phone buzzed.

He saw that it was an unrecognized number. He excused himself and went outside the auditorium.

"Hello?" he said picking up the call.

"Hello... is the Do Kyungsoo?" said the voice on the other end.

"Yes that's me. Who is this?" D.O asked.

"I'm Kim Taehyun. I believe you contacted me regarding Baekhyun. I was out of the country and I returned just yesterday"

"Hi yes... I did contact you. Is possible for you to meet us today? It's kind of urgent' D.O proposed.

Kim Taehyun looked at his watch. It was 1pm now and he had been asked by Baekhyun to arrive anytime between 2 and 3. "Yes I can spare some time"

"That's great" D.O said. "We are at RSGA but we can be wherever you are in no time"

"Oh wow I am quite close to RSGA. Can I drop by there instead?" Taehyun asked,

"Yes you definitely can. Ask for the Main Building and come straight to Practice Room 3"

"Cool I'll be there in 15" Taehyun said hanging up.

D.O dashed towards the practice room to find Chanyeol.

"Chanyeol" he said, collecting his breath.

"What happened?" Chanyeol asked all baffled.

"He...is...coming" D.O said, sinking his head to his knees and panting.

"Who is coming?"

D.O held his hand up, asking him to let him breathe.

Once D.O looked more at ease, Chanyeol asked again who was coming.

"Kim Taehyun" D.O said. "He'll be here in" he looked at his watch, "7 minutes"

"Did he say anything else?" Chanyeol asked curiously. "Did he say anything about Baekhyun?"

D.O simply shook his head.

Nervously they anticipated for Tae Hyun's arrival.

They heard a slight knock on the door and stood up and he entered.

"Hi, I am Taehyun" he said with a slight bow.

"I am D.O" he said, bowing back. "And this is..." D.O said pointing at Chanyeol.

"Park Chanyeol" Taehyun said with a smile. "The boy who broke Baekhyun's heart."


	36. Chapter 36

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked him. "When did I break his heart?"

"In high school of course" Taehyun said.

"I don't understand" Chanyeol said. "Baekhyun liked me since High School?"

"Liked you?" Taehyun asked a little surprised by the fact that he didn't know. "He practically loved you. You're the only boy he has loved"

"That's impossible. I saw you two under the bleachers. You were dating each other. You were with each other every day of school"

Taehyun shook his head. "What you saw was a reaction to something Baekhyun had heard"

"What do you mean?"

"You remember the day he came back to school after his injury?" Taehyun asked.

"You mean after he recovered from his step-father's beating?"

Taehyun was surprised he knew that. "Do you know why he was beaten up?"

"No" Chanyeol said.

"Because his father saw his diary where he had confessed his love for you"

"What?" D.O asked, gasping.

Taehyun nodded. "The day he came back, he was so happy to see you. He didn't care about his father's beatings as long as he got to see you and talk to you at school"

Chanyeol couldn't believe was he was hearing.

"That day your girlfriend announced in your class that you would be getting engaged soon"

"He must have been heart broken" D.O said.

Taehyun shook his head. "It was not this that broke his heart"

"What was it then?" D.O asked.

"It was when he heard Chanyeol's girlfriend telling someone that Chanyeol was disgusted by people like us. It hurt him and ripped his heart into pieces especially because these were the words Baekhyun's father had used to describe him when he was getting beaten up"

Chanyeol stared at Taehyun in horror. He wasn't even aware.

"What you saw Chanyeol under the bleachers was just a mistake he made in rage. We've only been friends since that day" Taehyun confirmed.

"Why did Baekhyun bully him so much if he loved him so deeply?" D.O asked.

"Because when Chanyeol saw us there, Baekhyun believed that he was disgusted by him. Every time Baekhyun saw him, it reminded him of what he had started believing he was... a filthy piece of trash. The only way he could let out his frustration was by hurting the person who had hurt him the most. But even then, it was always him who ended up getting hurt."

'What?' D.O asked. Chanyeol was too numb to say anything.

"Every time Baekhyun bullied you, he went to his father and provoked his anger which made him beat Baekhyun up. Each time he made your life hell, he made it worse for himself"

"The marks on his body" Chanyeol said softly, "Why did he never protect himself or cover himself up when his step father hit him? Why did he never stop his step father?"

Taehyun carefully weighed his words. "Because he had started believing that he was what his father had told him he was. He started believing he was a monster for hurting you, but he couldn't help it. And the only way he could ever try to redeem himself was by taking at least ten times of what he did to you. So every time his father beat him up, he silently accepted all blows, believing he deserved it. He spent a good amount of two years thinking that you hate him for being gay. It wasn't until last year that he found out your girlfriend had lied"

Chanyeol sank to the ground. It was too much for him to take. All this time, all these years that he had spent hating Baekhyun, wishing him to go to hell, were actually a living hell for him.

He had come to this college to redeem himself. And what had Chanyeol done? He made him feel unwanted and isolated him. And he took it all without complaining even once. Baekhyun's life was already hard, and Chanyeol had only made it harder by behaving in such a manner. Chanyeol couldn't help but blame himself for all this.

"Where is he?" Chanyeol asked, grabbing Taehyun's hands. "Where is Baekhyun now?"

"Don't you know?" Taehyun asked in confusion.

"Know what?" Chanyeol asked in a hurry.

"He's getting engaged at the Namsan Tower in an hour"


	37. Chapter 37

Chanyeol doesn't know what came over him but he ran out of the practice room and headed straight for the campus' main gate.

D.O ran after him. "Chanyeol..." he screamed. "You have an audition in a few minutes"

But Chanyeol neither listened nor cared. He ran out to the main road. _Which way is the Namsan Tower?_ he thought. Taxi. _That's right I need a taxi._

He held his hand out and a taxi halted just a few feet ahead of him.

He got into the taxi from the right door and noticed that someone entered from the left door.

"I got in first" Chanyeol said.

"Uh hu" the man said. "I got in first." He looked vaguely familiar to Chanyeol.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Namsan tower" both said together. They were going in the same direction so they decided to share a ride.

Chanyeol looked at the man, where had he seen him? And then it clicked.

He snapped his finger at him. "That's right. You're Gu Jun Pyo. Aren't you?"

Gu Jun Pyo was a little surprised. "Do you know me?"

"Who doesn't?" Chanyeol said, unable to believe his luck. He was meeting an actual Chaebol. "You're the heir to Shinwa group, aren't you?"

Gu Jun Pyo nodded. "I guess you really do know me" he said with a smile. "And you are?" he asked.

"Oh. Sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I am Park Chanyeol, a first year student at RSGA" he said with a slight bow.

"Wow RSGA. Impressive."

Chanyeol smiled and they fell to silence. After a moment, Chanyeol's curiosity peaked.

"Aren't you filthy rich?" Chanyeol asked.

Gu Jun Pyo laughed. "I guess I am. Why?"

"No I was just wondering why your're in a taxi than your own car"

"My car broke down right were we caught this cab. I was getting late so I took a cab instead. I suspect the car will be repaired and delivered at Namsan within an hour of us reaching there"

Chanyeol looked impressed. "Why are you going to Namsan Tower?" Chanyeol asked.

"My company's financial consultants merger celebration party. Also a friend's engagement" Gu Jun Pyo said politely.

"Is it Byun Baekhyun's engagement by any chance?" Chanyeol asked.

"Yes" Gu Jun Pyo said looking a little taken aback. "Do you know him?"

 **Know him?** Chanyeol thought.  _Do I really know him?_

He simply nodded. Gu Jun Pyo noticed a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, "you don't look happy for someone whose friend is getting engaged!"

"I would be happy had the engagement been with Baekhyun's approval"

"What do you mean?" Gu Jun Pyo asked.

"Baekhyun doesn't love the girl he is getting engaged to. The engagement is solely for business purpose."

This struck Gu Jun Pyo in the most accurate way. He knew exactly how it felt. Gu Jun Pyo looked at the engagement ring on his finger. He got engaged to his fiance, Ha Jae Kyung last week because marrying her would save the Shinwa group which was going though a crisis.

He was marrying someone else, while someone else resided in his heart. Geum Jan Di. Just remembering her name made Gu Jun Pyo smile like crazy.

Chanyeol looked at him and was oddly reminded of himself. This is how he smiled when he thought of Baekhyun.

"Remembering someone?" Chanyeol asked lightly.

Gu Jun Pyo looked at him and smiled again. He nodded his head in agreement. "So who does Baekhyun love?" he asked Chanyeol curiously, when he already had a hint of who it must be.

Chanyeol turned silent. "I don't know" he said after a few seconds. The sadness reflected on his face was heart wrenching. "All I know is that he loved me at one point. I know that I love him more than my life and the love that he had for me, if there is even 1% of that love left inside him, I am willing to risk my everything for him"

Gu Jun Pyo stared at the boy who looked so young, yet had the wisdom of someone far older.

He turned to the driver. "Sir, can you please drive faster? Someone's love is at stake"


	38. Chapter 38

The taxi came to a halt with a screech. Chanyeol immediately ran out. Then he remembered that he had to pay so he rushed back taking his wallet out. 

"I'll take care of it" Gu Jun Pyo said and Chanyeol thanked him.

Chanyeol went to the gate where there were multiple guards standing in line.

He tried to walk past them but the guards stopped him.

"Invitation?" one of them asked.

"I am Baekhyun's roommate" Chanyeol protested.

"Sorry sir" one of the guards said. "We can't let you in without an invite"

"He's with me" Gu Jun Pyo's voice came out from behind Chanyeol.

All the guards bowed down to him and gestured Chanyeol to enter.

"Go" Gu Jun Pyo said and Chanyeol thanked him again with a bow.

The area was so big that he didn't know where he'd find Baekhyun.

Chanyeol ran from one corner to the other, tapping on the shoulders of random people who even remotely looked like Baekhyun to ask if it was him.

Chanyeol ran towards the main stage were there was a live band playing.

He was still looking for Baekhyun when his step father's eyes fell on him. This wasn't good. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of this engagement.

His eyes turned and looked for Taeyeon. When Baekhyun's step father located her, he went to her.

"You see that boy..." he said to Taeyeon pointing at Chanyeol. "He's the one Baekhyun loves"

Taeyeon's eyes shot up at him in anger. "What is he doing here?" she asked him.

"Not something we'd want I suppose." Baekhyun's step father said. "This is your chance. Take care of him. Prove to me that you deserve the 25% stakes that I plan on giving you"

Taeyeon let our a wicked smile. "With pleasure" she said, placing the champagne glass in her hand on the table and walking towards Chanyeol.

"Excuse me" Taeyeon said. "You're Baekhyun's friend right?" she asked with all her innocence that she could act up.

"Yes" Chanyeol said, recognising her. "Where is he?" he asked frantically.

"He needed to get some air and wanted a few minutes away from the crowd. So he took the lift to the top of the tower."

Chanyeol did not care for the rest. He dashed off immediately to where she had pointed he would be.

The moment he got on the lift and started ascending, Baekhyun entered the gathering of the crowd on the ground at the foot of the tower and everyone looked at how perfect he looked in that fitting tuxedo that sculpted the outline of his body naturally.

"15 more minutes" Taeyeon muttered under her breath. "Once the announcement of our engagement is made, you won't be able to back out Baekhyun" she whispered to herself.

It took Chanyeol a lot of time to get up. When he was finally there, he looked around. The view was breathtaking, but there was no Baekhyun anywhere around.

Chanyeol looked down at the gathering and could make out that they were all clapping. He realised that Baekhyun was still down there.

The turned to get into the lift again but it had already passed him. Realising that it might take a lot of time for it to come back, Chanyeol decided to take the stair.

He ran with all the power he had in him. He couldn't let the love of his life get engaged to someone else.

Halfway down, his knees almost gave up, but he continues to descend.

Gu Jun Pyo who was still out with everybody, was on a constant lookout for Chanyeol.

"Where are you boy?" he asked in a low tone. 

Gu Jun Pyo saw that Baekhyun's step father was proceeding towards the stage. He rushed towards him and stopped him mid way.

"Mr. Choi" Gu Jun Pyo said, calling Baekhyun's step father's name out.

"Jun Pyo" he said with a smile. "You're finally here"

Gu Jun Pyo bowed. "Yes." he said. "Umm do you have two minutes to spare? I have some urgent matters to discuss with you"

Baekhyun's step father looked at the watch. He could spare 2 minutes for his company's biggest client.

"Definitely"

"I wanted to know if it wold be right to invest in SanSan Group"

Mr. Choi looked at him in surprise. "The company went bankrupt last year"

"Right" Gu Jun Pyo said and then laughed. "Silly me. I completely forgot."

"No problem" Mr. Choi said, patting Jun Pyo's arm. "Excuse me now" he said turning towards the stage.

"Mr. Choi" Jun Pyo yelled unexpectedly and Baekhyun's father looked at him in shock.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"No." Jun Pyo said. "I mean yes"

"What is it?"

Jun Pyo looked at the ground trying to think of something. "Umm... I don't know how to say it"

The ceremony was being delayed and Mr. Choi didn't have any patience left.

"Tell me later then" he said and quickly got on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen" he began. "It is so wonderful to see you guys gather around here with us, as we celebrate this wonderful occasion of this merger." he said looking at Mr. Kim who was standing on his right.

Everyone clapped except Gu Jun Pyo was who looking for Chanyeol.

"But there is a little surprise for you" he continued. "Come up on the stage kid"' he said, asking Baekhyun and Taeyeon to come up. They followed his request with a smile.

"Today" Mr. Choi continued, "We are here to not only celebrate the merger of our firms, but also to celebrate the union of two families. I am very happy to announce that today would also be commemorated as the day Taeyeon and Baekhyun got engaged." he finished. The loud noise of the clap faded the heavy shouts of a young boy who had just come out of the tower and was panting heavily.


	39. Chapter 39

"Stop" Chanyeol yelled at the top of his voice but his throat wasn't supporting him.

"Stop" he yelled again. This time, his voice was heard as the applause had died down.

Everyone suddenly turned to look at the Chanyeol, who was now panting with his head between his knees.

"Yes!!" Gu Jun Pyo shrieked a little. Thank god no one else had noticed him.

Baekhyun eyes shot wide open. "Chanyeol" he said, "what are you doing here?"

Chanyeol held out a hand, asking him to let him breathe first.

"I thought you took care of him" Mr. Choi said in a low tone to Taeyeon

"Fuck" muttered Taeyeon under her breath but Baekhyun heard them both. 

Baekhyun's father pointed at the guards indicating them to take Chanyeol out.

The guards neared him. Just as they were about to hold him, Gu Jun Pyo emerged from the crown.

"Touch him and you won't be able to touch anything else in your life" he threatened. The guards backed away.

"Jun Pyo" Mr. Choi yelled in shock. "What are you doing?"

"What I must have done myself!" he replied with a sass.

Chanyeol was feeling much better now. He got up on the stage and stood face to face with Baekhyun.

"What are you doing here?" Baekhyun asked.

"Break the engagement" Chanyeol said looking into his eyes.

Baekhyun's knees went weak at his stare, so he looked away. "I can't do that" he said.

"Yes you can" Chanyeol replied.

"What nonsense is this?" Mr. Choi yelled at him. How he wished he could hit both Chanyeol and Baekhyun right now. But there were too many people watching.

Chanyeol ignored him. "Come with me Baek" he said softly.

"I am sorry Chan. I can't. I have my reasons"

Chanyeol's heart fluttered at Baek calling him Chan. It was the first time Chanyeol's name sounded so beautiful from someone.

"Look at me" Chanyeol said but Baekhyun refused. Chanyeol closed the gap between them and cupped his face with his hands, tilting it up. Their eyes finally met.

"Do you love me?" Chanyeol asked softly.

"I can't do this Chan" Baekhyun said, almost crying. "Please go"

"Baek" Chanyeol said and Baekhyun looked into his starry eyes again. For a moment everything was silent. It was like time had stopped. They didn't need anything else apart from each other.

"Do you love me Baek?" Chanyeol asked again.

"You have no idea" Baekhyun finally confessed as tears streamed down his eyes.

Baekhyun's step father had enough. He rushed to them and broke them apart. 

"Baekhyun said he wants you gone. So who the hell are you to meddle into his and our family matters?"

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun. His step father had separated them, but their hands were still interlinked. And Baekhyun refused to let it go.

"I am your son's boyfriend" Chanyeol said before pulling Baekhyun towards him. Holding Baekhyun's face with both his hands, he whispered 'Trust me'.

Without any moment of hesitation, Chanyeol kissed those cherry red lips that had starved him of this pleasure for days. 

Time, as it was, stopped for them. In that moment, they did not care about anything or anyone else. In that moment, they belonged to each other and that was the only thing that mattered.

A string of electrifying waves broke across Chanyeol as he took Baekhyun's lips into his own. He realised that that he had been depriving himself of this addictive taste for this long and a part of his brain cursed himself for being so stupid.

Baekhyun didn't hold back anymore and kissed Chanyeol back with the same passion he had the first time they kissed. He did not care what his step father or anyone else said. That kiss, that mesmerising kiss was enough to tell Baekhyun what Chanyeol felt about him, and how strongly he felt about him.

They bit into each other's lips, their tongues playing and exploring each other like they'd been lost for years. Everyone gasped at their act but some of them were so awed by it that they started cheering for the two of them.

Baekhyun's step father, in a matter of seconds, had not only lost his reputation, but also the merger as he saw Mr. Kim tear the agreement apart before rushing off the stage with his daughter.

He was enraged. At this point, he didn't care that there were people around. He had already lost everything. He looked around and in a frenzy to look for something to hit. He picked up the glass jar set on the table and raised it high to hit Baekhyun. Just as he was about to, a voice called out his name.

"Mr. Choi?'

He turned to see that the police were there. "Good you're here" he said, composing himself. "Arrest them" he said pointing at Chanyeol and Baekhyun who turned from each other to Baekhyun's step father and then to the police.

"On what grounds?" the policeman asked.

"For kissing each other" Mr. Choi said.

"Mr. Choi homosexuality isn't a crime. They can kiss anyone they want as long as it's consensual"

"What?" he asked, all confused. "Why are you here then?"

"For you" the policeman said.

"Me? What did I do?" Mr. Choi scoffed.

"Mr. Choi you are under arrest on the grounds of domestic violence and for multiple counts of assault"

Cuffing him, they took him out of the place.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun looked at each other, unable to understand what had just happened. 

Gu Jun Pyu approached them.

"You finally did it Chanyeol" he said patting in on his back and they both smiled.

"Hyung" Baekhyun said. "You know Chanyeol?" he was surprised.

"Yea we kinda do" he laughed.

"Come on" he said. "I'll give you two love birds a ride."


	40. Chapter 40

The year that followed was not easy for Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

Baekhyun's step-father had been arrested and awaited his trial for months, following which he was given 10 years of incarceration as punishment.

It meant that Baekhyun had to step up and take over his role at the company. The work wasn't something he wanted to do so he had decided to take a year off and teach his mother the ropes of the business for a year before retiring from it.

Both Chanyeol and Baekhyun were indebted to her and her courage. Had she not decided to submit the video clip of her husband assaulting her to the police, none of this would've become possible.

It was then that Baekhyun realised that it was his mother who had locked him in his room so that she could gather evidence of her husband's wrongdoings towards them. After years of abuse and living with someone as horrible as him, she decided that she didn't want her son to have the same fate as her.

_"Do you remember when I said that i wish you had died that night with your father?"_

Baekhyun remembered.

_"It was not because I hated you" she said crying. "It was because death would have been better than you living your life like this'."_

That conversation had set the mother and son on the path of healing.

\---

After missing the audition that day Chanyeol had resolved to clear it next year. He indulged himself into practice during the weekdays and overindulged himself with Baekhyun during the weekends.

All the 3rd year students passed out, out of which Chanyeol missed Kris and Suho the most. They still kept in touch after they'd both been selected by SM Entertainment. So were Lay, Xiumin, Chen, Tao, Luhan, Kai, Sehun and D.O.

Chanyeol had heard that they had formed a band named EXO. Although there were almost complete, they were still looking for two more members. Chanyeol only got to meet his friends every once in a while the entire year as they were all busy in their training. KaiSoo and HunHan, as Baekhyun had named them, were still going strong. Wanting to be with his friends made Chanyeol want to clear the audition even more.

It was Baekhyun who had propositioned to join them.

"Channie" Baekhyun said one night as they lay on Baekhyun's bed in his house, cuddling.

"Mmm?" Chanyeol replied. His eyes were closed and he tightly held Baekhyun whose head rested on his chest. God he loved how Baekhyun smelled. But what he loved more was how tiny he was and would fit in his arms perfectly. It was like Chanyeol's arms were made only to hold Baekhyun in them.

"Let's join Suho hyung's band"

"Okay" Chanyeol said smiling.

"I'm serious" Baekhyun said tilting his head up and looking at Chanyeol. "We wouldn't have to be apart like this. We could see each other all we want and be with each other all we want"

"I'm also serious Baek. I'll do anything you ask me to" to which Baekhyun reached over and kissed him.

"I love you so much" he said while biting onto Chanyeol's lower lip.

"I love you more" Chanyeol said, rolling him over and sitting on top of him before pressing his body down to Baekhyun's and planting a deep, passionate kiss on his lips.

\---

The day of the next year's audition had finally arrived.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were backstage when Baekhyun's name was called out. Chanyeol kissed him for a full minute before he let him go. When Baekhyun reached the stage, he was as red as a tomato. Luckily no one noticed.

He went on stage and lit the stage on fire with his cover of the song that made him first fall in love with Chanyeol, Killing Me Softly.

When Baekhyun was done, it was Chanyeol's turn. To Baekhyun's surprise, Chanyeol sang Creep by Radiohead because it was this song that had made Chanyeol aware of his feelings for Baekhyun.

Once they were done, they ran back to their dorm room because they couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

\---

The results were announced after the audition and it was no surprise to the both of them that the other had been selected. Baekhyun had diligently prayed for Chanyeol's selection while Chanyeol had wholeheartedly prayed for Baekhyun's.

They looked at each other and smiled. It was not just the beginning of a new life, but also the beginning of a love that would last multiple lifetimes.


	41. Author's Note

Living With The Enemy is a very special book to me.

This is the first ever FanFic I wrote.

I know some of the elements are a little childish while some, too intense.

I know I have made a lot of mistakes with this one but it has propelled me into the wonderful journey of finally penning down my imagination.

I hope you all liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. 

Thank you :)

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